[ PRINT ] [ Printing FAQ ] About OncoLink Editorial Board Sponsors Help See Today's OncoTip Usage Statistics Virtual Classroom Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute "Confronting Cancer Through Art" is an exhibition by people whose lives have been touched by cancer. This week we are featuring artwork by: Jacqueline Kniewasser Pontypool, Ontario Visit the Children's Art Gallery This week's artwork was donated by a pediatric cancer patient who received treatment for cancer at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

OncoLink FAQ: Breast Cancer Detection After Silicone Implants Last Revision Date: Sunday, 14-Feb-1999 13:54:29 EST Copyright © 1994-1999, The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania This is a response to a question about breast cancer detection after silicone implants. Question: Dear OncoLink, Are mammograms safe to perform on silicon implanted breasts? Is it possible that silicone blocks visibility of tumors? Are there other methods in detecting cancer in such situations? P.R. John Han-Chih Chang, MD and Kenneth Blank, MD, Editorial Assistants for Oncolink, respond: Dear P.R., Thank you for your interest and question. It is very much the case that silicon FILLED implants block the visibility of tumors. There have been studies that suggested in the patients with silicon filled implants that those having breast cancer are discovered at a latter stage than those without. Nearly all artificial implants are made with a silicon covering, but can be saline or now triglyceride oil filled. The triglyceride oil has the same density as the normal breast tissue, and thus the implants are radio-lucent or clear enough on x-ray to see the other overlying breast tissue. With the silicon implants, other studies can be done, such as ultrasound. Unfortunately, ultrasound cannot pick up abnormal micro-calcifications for which mammogram is best suited.

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