bc in remaining breast due to too many mammos?

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crazy4carrots
crazy4carrots Member Posts: 5,324
edited June 2014 in Not Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastases but Concerned
bc in remaining breast due to too many mammos?
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  • crazy4carrots
    crazy4carrots Member Posts: 5,324
    edited January 2010

    For those of us who had a single mastectomy, I'm wondering if bc occurring in the "good" breast might sometimes be the result of too many mammograms?  Since my mast in early 2008 I've had 2 mammos (and U/S) in the right breast (and the next one scheduled next month), and am starting to worry that if this monitoring continues, another tumour might be in the offing.  With the new body scanners being employed at airports, and knowing that radiation is cumulative, I'm concerned.

    Any thoughts?

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  • TriciaK
    TriciaK Member Posts: 362
    edited January 2010

    Personally I think the radiation from these diagnostic scans/mammos' are minimal and worth it if they find another cancer early on.

    I don't think it's enough to lead to another cancer from that alone, but who knows??

    Tricia x

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  • konakat
    konakat Member Posts: 6,085
    edited January 2010

    I think the risk of radiation from the mammos pale to the risk of not finding a lesion.  There was a thread here yesterday (?) about the radiation and the body scanners -- apparently the radiation is minimal, equal to 2 minutes in a plane (don't have the source for that).  Hmmm, makes me think about all the radiation from my travels...  Anyway, I'm a big picture girl -- when you think of all the crap our bodies are bombarded with on a daily basis the mammos and scanners are a drop in the bucket.

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  • crazy4carrots
    crazy4carrots Member Posts: 5,324
    edited January 2010

    Oh, I agree that finding a tumour via a mammo is critical.  My point was really that I'm wondering if a prophylactic mast might be preferable to receiving several mammos in the future, considering I've already had a quite a few (first one 25 years ago).  Also, I wonder if any studies have been done regarding a second bc in the "good" breast and if/how many could be attributed to too many mammos.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited January 2010

    Linda, I don't know what to advise you about a prophylactic mammo, but I did hear a doctor say that the screening machines in the airport had hardly any radiation exposure.  Heck, I just don't want anyone to see my fat body.  I wonder if they'd show me the scan after we were through to see what my saggy, fat body looked like on the scanner.  Everyone I see on TV looks nice and trim.  How embarrassing for me.Embarassed

    BTW, my onc said it rarely came back in the other breast...I say, YEAH, RIGHT! 

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