one dense breast

tovahsmom · September 2009

I got a call back, back in June for a second look at my breasts - microcalcifications in the right breast (post-surgery dx: DCIS) and a dense left breast.

When I got rescreened, once the doc found something in my right breast, she never took a look again at my left breast.

Was I supposed to get an US for my left breast?

It turned out that I ended up getting an MRI of both breasts, but I'm just curious:

are dense breasts supposed to get an ultrasound first during the callback?

This radiologist did detect cancer, so she did a good job, but I'm just wondering whether my dense left breast got its fair share of attention, so to speak.

dlb823 · September 2009

tovahsmom ~ Usually after bc is detected in one breast, it's left to MRI to determine if there's anything going on in the other breast. Had the breast they looked at first proved not to require a biopsy, or had that biopsy been benign, perhaps you could have asked for a future ultrasound on the "dense" breast. However, as things are presently done, having an u/s on a dense breast just because it's dense -- with no identifiable lumps -- usually isn't done, and I suspect that's because it would be virtually impossible to thoroughly u/s a dense breast if you're not looking for a particular lump. Deanna

tovahsmom · September 2009

Thanks Deanna,

That is very helpful.

Patricia

leaf · September 2009

Some breast cancers do not present with lumps.

It sounds like there are now differences of opinion about using MRI on the contralateral breast in early breast cancer. http://www.hopkinsbreastcenter.org/artemis/200909/7.html

Since most cancers are ductal, I don't know if this study evaluated lobular adequately. (Invasive lobular cancers are usually thought to be about 10-20% of all breast cancers, and have more of a chance of being bilateral. LCIS is often bilateral, but that doesn't mean you have cancer bilaterally.)

I would agree that ultrasound is usually not done for screening, because there isn't a suspicious lesion, and, as Deanna said, its almost impossible to thoroughly ultrasound an entire breast.

tovahsmom · September 2009

Thank you leaf.

I feel better about not getting an ultrasound now.

I just wanted to make sure that my doctors were on their toes.

My mother has metastatic ILC which was not detected on any of her yearly previous mammos until it became stage IV.

I just didn't want the radiologists to give up on my other breast once they found something in the other to focus their attention on.

leaf · September 2009

Of course you want them to be thorough. It sounds like you are not an 'average' person with DCIS, with your family history, pending BRCA, multicentric DCIS, and LCIS.

Glad you got an MRI of both breasts. Best wishes.

tovahsmom · September 2009

Thanks leaf.

That's what I seem to be finding out as I proceed down the cancer path.

Anonymous · September 2009

I would definately insist on a diagnostic mammo and an ultra sound of the dense breast. My bad breast - for 5 years of mammos - was diagnosed as dense tissue. Each year I was told..."it's just dense tissue - nothing to worry about". But then...when I felt a small lump, they did a diagnostic mammo and an ultrasound. Both the lump and the dense tissue area turned out to be malignant - the dense tissue was actually a 4cm tumor. The small lump was LCIS, and the 4cm - so called dense tissue area was ILC. I don't want to scare you, but I felt I should share my story. Best wishes...

one dense breast

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