Has this ever happened to anyone here???

Wow, I have a similar story as the previous poster, sweatyspice. I, too, had caclifications show up on a routine annual mammo (age 44), never been there before or even heard of such a thing. This led to a stereo.biopsy which confirmed DCIS. Breast surgeon suggested an MRI and genetic testing. Resulting MRI showed a suspicion in the OTHER breast, which led to an MRI-guided biopsy. Both genetic test and MRI biopsy were negative, thankfully!!!!!!!! After all this info., BS gave me option of either lumpectomy w/ rads or mastectomy and I chose the former.

 Zachsmom - I found the MRI-guided biopsy to be far less painful than either I'd expected or as painful as the stereo.biopsy. In fact, a mammo. was more painful than the MRI-guided biopsy, The mental anguish is definitely the most awful part, but the information must be gathered before one can determine the course of treatment, so we must just shut off our brains (soooo stressful) and get through it.  Good luck to you, it'll be OK.

I strongly suggest you discuss this with your surgeon and not take my word for it, but I doubt surgical biopsy is possible.  There's no palpable lump.  It's not showing on mammo or ultrasound.  It's invisible to the naked eye. The only way this shows up is thru MRI.

When you have a stereotactic mammo guided biopsy, they shoot in a metal clip.  Then before the lumpectomy they insert wires to guide the surgeon to the site of the metal clip.   

The surgeon will have no real idea where to cut and what to remove.  It seems to me your options are to get through the MRI biopsy or do watchful waiting and repeat the MRI in a few months to see if it's grown.  

Another thing to keep in mind is that, assuming you're still menstruating, there's a recommended period of time in which to have a breast MRI.  Apparently there are false positives caused by hormonal fluctuations, and those false positives are reduced if you have the MRI within a certain window of time.   Did your team take that into account when scheduling the MRI?  For reasons I don't understand, they don't always bother to schedule it properly and the patient often has to push for it.  It's worth Googling because I'm no longer sure what that timeframe is - but if that's not when you had the MRI done, maybe it's worth doing a second time to see if the area has disappeared.  If it does disappear, it's a hormonal anomaly.   That said, I don't know if your insurance will pay for a re-do, so you might have to cover it on your own - and they're expensive.

Zackmom:  First of all I'm sorry you have to go through this - nobody should have to deal with the anxiety and the potential loss of a breast (or both).. I had a similiar thing happen to me.  I was having a Breast MRI because of my strong family history it had been recommended by my Genetic Counselor while we were awaiting my BRCA test results.  The radiologist said that there was "an area of concern" and I took the film to my bs he wasn't convinced.. and he also felt around until I thought he would break ribs - still not convinced, he couldn't feel anything, he did an ultra sound, which didn't show anything.  So he sent me back for a digital mammogram and again it came back with nothing.  He was convinced this was "nothing" but because of history ( and as a precaution because of the family history) I was sent off for an MRI guided biopsy which showed DCIS Grade 3!  DCIS doesn't always show it's face and so all the tests need to be done when something suspicious comes up.  That being said, if I were you I would have the tissue reviewed for a second opinion at any of the breast cancer specialty hospitals.  Their pathologists see so much bc that they are better at defining it (at least most of the time).  I sent my off to Vanderbilt (there are many other's that could be used) and it did come back different -  DCIS Grade 1 so it does pay for have the second and third opinions even if you have to step outside your insurance company to get them.  Good luck and I hope you find some peace soon!!!  Best, Deirdre

If the areas had shown on previous MRIs, and assuming the areas hadn't increased in size, they wouldn't be concerned because things would be stable.

You have no family history and you're BRCA negative.  BUT you have a personal history of your body wanting to create DCIS.  

Could it have to do with the cosmetic surgeries?  That's way above my pay grade so to speak, and a question for your physicians.  And even if it could be due to the cosmetic surgeries, or if it's another benign condition,  you won't have certainty unless you have it biopsied.  You already know that. 

I can only guess you're trying to do a risk calculation in your head about whether the biopsy is worth it, and no one here can answer that for you - though based on the facts you've presented so far, I suspect the vast majority of us would be pro-biopsy. 

....If I'm remembering correctly, MRI basically measures bloodflow.  Malignant cells, because they're more active and dividing more quickly, show an uptick in bloodflow compared to the surrounding tissue.  Whether scar tissue - especially tissue in the process of healing from a recent wound -  also has increased bloodflow is something I just don't know.  If I'm wrong about this, someone please feel free to correct me.

I'm in the pro-biopsy camp, definitely.

4cm is large, but it needn't cause puckering or feel like a rock, not unless you're like an AA-cup. He has said he doesn't think it's cancer, so he and you will both sleep better if you let him prove that . And if it should turn out that it is cancer, and remember you have had DCIS, well sorry but "I can't feel it" won't make it go away or stop growing. Seems to me the sooner you know either way, the sooner you can relax and get on with life! Good luck - prayers AND valium!

Zachsmom - in that case, how do you feel about playing the third or fourth radiologist's opinion game?

Are you saying that they both recommended a biopsy - but one was much more convinced that it would be malignant than the other?  Or are you saying that one radiologist recommended a biopsy and the other tadiologist did not?  In the end, the surgeons rely on the radiologist's recommendations, interpreting the scans is the radiologist's job.  I seriously doubt a surgeon will say 'no need to biopsy' if a radiologist recommends one.  

If you want to see to what extent all radiologists will agree it's called for in your case, then you need another radiologist to read the scan.  You can get a copy of the disk and then ask for a second opinion at another institution (assuming their systems are compatible and they can READ the disk format.)

Based on that description, I don't foresee any physician advising against an MRI biopsy - though I guess you could try to find one.  This comes down to whether you want to take the risk of ignoring a red flag. 

I hope you choose the biopsy, get benign results, and are really pissed off about having to go through a needless-in-hindsight biopsy. 

I wish you the best whatever your choice. 

And Valium. 

I asked the questions about sedation but the technician told me that the doc' needs us to move around during the test so complete sedation is out.   but when I pursued further she told me that they have used  valium and/or local pain meds to help with some people.. so why not ask if you can have a local?   There is no reason in this day and age that we can't be comfortable when going through any procedure.  Best of luck!  Deirdre