Reclaim Your Curves

  • Home
    • Our Work >
      • Reclaim & Recover
      • Breast Reconstruction Awareness Events
      • RYC Peer Support Lunches
      • Order - Postcards
      • Order - Patient Toolkit
    • Admin >
      • Health Industry Contact Form
      • Volunteer Registration Form
      • Suggest a service
      • Volunteer Crew page
  • Breast reconstruction
  • NEWS
  • Connect
  • Additional resources
  • Home
    • Our Work >
      • Reclaim & Recover
      • Breast Reconstruction Awareness Events
      • RYC Peer Support Lunches
      • Order - Postcards
      • Order - Patient Toolkit
    • Admin >
      • Health Industry Contact Form
      • Volunteer Registration Form
      • Suggest a service
      • Volunteer Crew page
  • Breast reconstruction
  • NEWS
  • Connect
  • Additional resources

News and information

Breast Cancer Surveillance After Mastectomy Or Breast Reconstruction

11/5/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
If you’ve had a mastectomy followed by reconstruction, should you continue having mammograms? The answer is generally no, but maybe, depending on your circumstances.

 Mammograms are recommended to detect early  breast cancers; since almost all breast tissue is removed during mastectomy, mammograms are no longer required. Breast reconstruction doesn’t affect breast cancer recurrence or new tumors, so it doesn’t influence whether or not you should have continuing mammograms. Your mastectomy, however, does. The American Cancer Society recommends that “women who have had total, modified radical, or radical mastectomy for breast cancer need no further routine screening mammograms of the affect side (or sides, if both breasts are removed).”

Annual mammograms are advised for women who:
  • have unilateral mastectomy--routine mammograms are recommended on the healthy breast.
  • had a subcutaneous mastectomy (an outdated type of nipple-sparing mastectomy that left breast tissue at the base of the nipple).
In some cases, your physician may recommend post-mastectomy imaging:
  • a baseline mammogram after breast reconstruction so an unusual area that develops can be scanned and compared.
  • a mammogram, ultrasound or needle biopsy to determine whether a lump in your reconstructed breast is scar tissue, necrosis (a hardened area where fat cells have died), or something more suspicious. 
  • periodic mammograms or MRIs if you have an inherited BRCA mutation or a strong family history of breast cancer that puts you at high risk for recurrence (the value of mammograms and MRIs in this case hasn’t been proven, but some physicians do recommend extra surveillance for high-risk women). 
Breast reconstruction with silicone implants is an exception to the screening-after-mastectomy rule, but it is meant to check for possible “silent ruptures,” rather than detect breast tumors. The FDA recommends MRI screening of silicone implants 3 years after silicone implants are placed in the chest, and every 2 years following, for as long as the implants remain in place. (This isn’t recommended for saline implants, which deflate when they leak or rupture.) Insurance doesn’t usually pay for these MRI screenings, but they are important, since a ruptured silicone implant may not cause any visible symptoms.

                                            -------------------------------

After mastectomy with or without reconstruction, you should continue to monitor your breasts with monthly self-exams and an annual clinical exam by a health care professional.

By Kathy Steligo
Reposted from Breast Reconstruction: Your Choice 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    August 2019
    July 2019
    July 2018
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    March 2013


    RSS Feed

Quick links 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Volunteer with us

You have experience and wisdom to share.

Contact us to volunteer your talent:
Support others online or face to face
Offer your technical expertise
Provide admin support
Help with fundraising
Share your story
Picture
Contact Us

This website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice from a physician or to create a standard of care for health care providers. Please check with a physician if you have any questions, need a diagnosis and/or for treatments as well as information regarding your specific condition.

Reclaim Your Curves 2015 - 2018