Newly diagnosed and MRI found a mass in other breast

SummerAngel

I'm just at a loss right now. I had an MRI on Friday and the results were posted to the patient portal. I haven't spoken to my doctors yet but I know I have more decisions to make. I had planned on a mastectomy of my left breast (can't have radiation because of connective tissue disease), but I was going to leave the right alone. Now the MRI result says:

"There is a large amount of fibroglandular tissue throughout the right breast. There are numerous diffuse foci of enhancement throughout the right breast, many of which show type 2 enhancement curves. At the central position of the right breast 4.4cm from the areola, there is a lobulated and somewhat ill-defined, oval, enhancing mass measuring 1.1 x 0.7 x 0.7 cm. This shows a type2 enhancement curve, with rapid early enhancement followed by a plateau phase."

They recommend an ultrasound and possible biopsy. That's fine, but the last biopsy I had came back as a fibroadenoma (it was also described as lobulated and somewhat ill-defined) and the cancer wasn't found until pathology was done on the entire excised mass. I'm not sure it's worth trying to save my right breast at this point, even if it comes back benign!

I welcome any opinions, especially from those who've been in a similar situation.

(The left breast has IDC, 2.2cm ++-)

Gully

Hi Summer,

So sorry you are going through this. This sounds exactly what happened in my case. I had a 1.2cm identified Idc on my left and underwent MRI on right which identified four areas of uptake. The recommended biopsy came back negative. I felt in my gut that this was going to be trouble in that I would need numerous mammos To watch over the next year. So I elected to do the BMX. Long story short, they found an area, 7mm, of Idc on the right. Check out the bilateral breast cancer thread for more stories like ours. I don't think it's as uncommon as once thought. Good luck with your decision.

Gully

katcar0001

SummerAngel, I am so sorry for what you are going through--I know how tough it is. I had a mass on my right side that I had removed in Feb. after my left mastectomy in Dec. After surgery, the pathology indicated that it was a tumor but it was benign (1cm). To me, it was worth having out to alleviate my worries, and there was a possibility it could turn into something bad in the the future. I thought about having a mastectomy on the right side too, but I decided to keep the one breast as I didn't want a completely numb chest. That is an entirely personal decision, of course. Best of luck with your course of action.

SummerAngel

Thank you for the replies! I will check out the bilateral thread. I really would like to save one breast, but only if I can be relatively sure I'll have peace of mind about it at some point!

SummerAngel

I just got a call from the imaging center saying they want to do a mammogram and ultrasound of both breasts! The lady couldn't tell me why, but I just had a mammogram in March! I had an ultrasound on my left breast multiple times, then I had a biopsy and then an excision. The site is still healing and they want to mammogram again? WTF? I refused to make the appointment as I have an appointment with the oncologist tomorrow, but the lady was insistent that they will set time aside on Thursday for me so I can come in. She said the doctor (the radiologist I've never spoken to) insists I do these again. Is this normal? Please, can anyone tell me why they would need to do this? I do understand an ultrasound on my right breast, but why both breasts and why a mammogram when it clearly didn't show anything a month ago?

SummerAngel

Thanks for the reply, kayb! It turned out that the radiologist was wrong, my doctors didn't order another mammogram. Seems they have a communication problem! I need to have an ultrasound of the mass they found as well as some suspicious lymph nodes.