BOOB jobs make it harder to spot breast cancer, according to shock new research.

The implants may be stopping tumours from showing up on routine X-rays.

As a result, cancers are found only when they are bigger and more likely to have spread.

Researchers in Canada say women with boob jobs are THREE TIMES more likely to be diagnosed with advanced cancer. Their chances of dying from it go up by 30 PER CENT.

The team based their findings on 40,000 women with implants — 409 of whom went on to get cancer. They warned: “Implants are radiopaque. They can hinder visualisation of tissue during mammograms.”

Last night UK experts called for more research but urged women to tell doctors about implants before being screened.

Dr Caitlin Palframan, of Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said: “Implants can make it more difficult to see breast tissue but taking X-rays from different angles can address this.” Around 25,000 women a year in the UK have boob jobs.

Meanwhile, scientists carrying out the world’s largest study of MALE breast cancer have identified a gene that raises the risk of developing it by half.

Around 350 men in the UK are diagnosed each year. The Institute of Cancer Research in London, which studied 823 patients, said it was a “leap forward”.