Do Breast Implants Increase Cancer Risk, and How Do You Make Sure Cancer Still Gets Caught?

If you have breast implants, you have probably run into two worries that tend to arrive together. First: do implants themselves raise your risk of cancer? And second, the more practical one: if a mammogram has to work around an implant, how do you make sure a cancer would still be caught early?

Both are fair questions, and both have clear answers. Let’s take them in order, starting with what the research shows, then moving to the part that matters most for your day-to-day peace of mind: complete, confident screening.

Do breast implants cause cancer?

Here is the reassuring headline first: research suggests that women with breast implants are not at higher risk of developing breast cancer, the common cancer that forms in breast tissue (Mayo Clinic; multiple cohort studies). Some studies have even found a slightly lower rate, which researchers attribute to traits of women who tend to choose implants rather than to the implants themselves.

So when people ask do breast implants cause cancer or can breast implants cause cancer, the answer for ordinary breast cancer is no: the evidence does not show an increase. The question does breast implant cause breast cancer has been studied for decades, and the consensus has held up.

There is an important nuance, though. Implants have been linked to a few rare cancers that form in the scar tissue or fluid around the implant, not in the breast tissue itself. The best known is BIA-ALCL (breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma), a rare cancer of the immune system rather than a breast cancer. According to the FDA, it occurs more often with textured breast implants than with smooth ones, and the concern was significant enough that in 2019 the FDA requested the Allergan breast implant recall of its Biocell textured implants. More recently, in 2022, the FDA reported rare cases of squamous cell carcinoma and other lymphomas in the implant capsule as well.

Two things keep this in perspective. These conditions are rare, and when caught early they are usually treatable, often by removing the implant and the surrounding scar capsule. And the FDA does not recommend that women without symptoms have their implants removed. If you have textured implants and want to know exactly which type you have, your implant card or your surgeon’s records will tell you.

These rare conditions are not the same as breast cancer

This distinction matters for screening. BIA-ALCL and the other implant-capsule cancers usually show up as symptoms rather than as something a routine screening scan looks for: think late swelling, a fluid collection, a lump, or pain around an implant, often years after surgery. If you notice changes like that, they are evaluated by your doctor directly, not through a standard screening mammogram.

So the everyday screening priority for anyone with implants is the same as it is for everyone else, and arguably more important: making sure ordinary breast cancer still gets caught early. That is where the technology you screen with makes a real difference.

Why implants can make cancer harder to see

A mammogram is an X-ray, and an implant is dense and opaque on that X-ray. Even with special implant-displacement views, an implant can block part of the surrounding breast tissue. On top of that, many women who choose augmentation also have dense breast tissue, where cancer is harder to see because dense tissue and tumors both look white on a mammogram. In extremely dense breasts, mammograms may miss up to 50% of the cancers that are present (Kolb et al., Radiology 2002; FDA, March 2023).

Put those two things together, an implant plus dense tissue, and it is easy to see why a single mammogram may not tell the whole story for a woman with implants. The answer is not to skip the mammogram. It is to add to it.

Breast ultrasound vs. mammogram: why you may want both

This is where the breast ultrasound vs mammogram question comes in, and the short version is that they are teammates, not rivals. The mammogram vs ultrasound comparison is less about which is better and more about what each one does.

A mammogram is the foundation of screening and is still recommended for women 40 and older, implants or not. It is the best tool for spotting tiny calcifications. Ultrasound brings something different: it uses sound waves instead of X-rays, needs no compression, and can see through dense tissue and around an implant where a mammogram struggles. That is why, in the ultrasound vs mammogram conversation, the question is ultrasound better for dense breasts gets a qualified yes: in dense tissue, ultrasound can see what a mammogram misses.

A common follow-up is can I get a breast ultrasound instead of a mammogram? For routine screening, generally no. Ultrasound is a supplement, not a replacement. The two work best layered together: the mammogram as your baseline, ultrasound to fill in the blind spots.

What if cancer is missed by both?

It is worth being honest about this, because it is a real search and a real fear: people look up breast cancer not detected by mammogram or ultrasound, and no screening test catches 100% of cancers. What layered screening does is stack the odds in your favor. When you add ultrasound to mammography, you catch cancers that either tool alone might miss, which is the whole point of supplemental screening and the heart of ultrasound and cancer detection research. When ABUS is added to mammography, it detects 35.7% more breast cancers than mammography alone (FDA PMA P110006).

The rest of the safety net is you and your provider: knowing your personal risk (a tool like Tyrer-Cuzick can estimate it), keeping up with your scans, and reporting any change you notice. No single scan is a guarantee, but complete, consistent screening is the closest thing to one.

How ABUS gives implant patients complete, confident screening

For women with implants, this is where BeSound is able to help you. Automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) is a comfortable, radiation-free, compression-free scan that images the whole breast in a standardized 3D volume. Because there is no compression, there is no pressure on the implant, and because it is automated rather than guided by hand, it captures the entire breast the same way every time, which makes it easy to compare against future scans.

BeSound uses ABUS with QVCAD, the first FDA PMA-approved AI system for concurrent reading of ABUS exams. AI-assisted reading flags areas for closer review, and a board-certified physician always makes the final assessment. It is the first FDA-approved automated breast ultrasound system for supplemental screening in women with dense breast tissue, and it works alongside your mammogram, not instead of it.

Confident screening for implant patients

If you have implants and want to know you are being screened completely, BeSound offers automated breast ultrasound in Los Angeles as a supplemental layer alongside your mammogram. The scan takes about 20 minutes, your images are reviewed by a board-certified physician, and results reach your secure portal within 24 to 48 weekday hours. Pricing is transparent at $349.

Our flagship location on Melrose Avenue was built for comfort: an all-female sonographer team, warm and private rooms, and an unhurried experience. Keep your mammogram on the calendar, and add the layer that sees what it can miss.

Not medical advice. Consult a medical professional with any medical questions. BeSound provides supplemental breast ultrasound imaging and does not replace mammography or medical care. Imaging is interpreted by licensed physicians. For marketing purposes only. The American Cancer Society recommends that women at average risk begin regular mammograms at age 40. BeSound is a technology platform that connects individuals with independent partner medical groups that provide breast imaging services; BeSound is not a healthcare provider.