In the U.S., one in eight women will get breast cancer in their lifetime, and about half of them will have mastectomies. Many of those women opt to have their breasts surgically reconstructed, most commonly with implants, but a relatively high percentage develop infections after implant surgery, requiring intravenous antibiotics and often removal of the implant. This can lead to additional surgeries, delays in cancer care and increased costs, as well as added emotional distress for women already under strain from cancer diagnosis and treatment.
To address this problem, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a new tool to detect reconstruction-related infections early, before they cause symptoms. This could allow for preemptive treatment that preserves implants,…