Mammogram vs Ultrasound n MRI

Many of us here had our ILC discovered only a few months after a clear mammogram--- so yes, an ultrasound or MRI would be helpful.  I still have an annual MRI after 5.5 years and my argument has been that it did not show up on the mammogram just 6 months before I was diagnosed.

My answer is yes...MRI, I was told by my radiation onc, is the gold standard for ILC.  ILC is less common than IDC, but not rare.

Claire in AZ

I had a mammo and ultrasound last March, and was told to come back in six months....this was for a lump that was very easy to FEEL. They told me it was most likely just dense breast tissue. They DID tell me that I had extremely dense breasts, but did NOT tell me what that might possibly mean for me in terms of how effective those tests might be at finding trouble in my breasts. (That particular angle of it makes me *angry*. Honestly, I feel I should have been informed of the risks that dense breast tissue left me with, but instead all I ever got after every mammo was a fairly cheerful "dense breasts often tend to be a bit lumpy and ropey feeling. It's normal!" Blah. My oncologist says I had that cancer for YEARS.)

Six months later I went to another doctor who sent me immediately to a surgeon -- -and for another mammo and US that still showed nothing to get excited about. My surgeon went to bat for me with the insurance company (with the argument that he did not want to biopsy the lump without having SEEN it) and two weeks later insurance agreed to cover an MRI. The MRI clearly showed what neither the mammo nor the US had shown -- a tumor that was 5cm even after the surgeon took 8 slices out of it during a core needle biopsy.

So yeah. I'd say that with dense breasts, especially "very" or "extremely" dense breasts, I'd get any and every test I can manage to get, and definitely an MRI even if I had to pay for it myself. If I had paid for an MRI several years ago I might not have wound up Stage IIIc, but no one ever told me that that was something I *might* want to do. IT would have been totally worth the money.

OK... I have two weeks before my surgery... Opted for MX Left Breast only... DX IDC 2.5cm and ILC .4mm Grade II? and ILCS spots in the core biopsies...  First Ultrasound and mammogram (only IDC discovered).... Suspicious shadowing .. suggest follow up ultrasound which will have a bearing on surgery... Second ultrasound... After about 10 mins with technician, the radiologist comes in and says " Our talented tech has found something that seems a bit suspicious and we need to do a biopsy"  ..Three cores taken...  Come back in a week... Four hours drive and with the DX of two different cancers I was just a little bit overwhelmed.... We need to give you an MRI to properly DX this type of cancer.. ie.. how far has it gone... I just went "NO" take it off.. Don't know why... just did... Researching now I wish I had of done the MRI... Too many ifs, buts and whys???... Yes the Mammogram picked up something which was obviously behind the 2.5cm which was originally said to be 1.5cm three weeks before (Grade Low to Intermediateb only).. yes the ultrasound said there was something not right... Reading of first reports and then pushing for a second ultrasound I was astounded they did find what they found... I feel that they should have sent me straight for the MRI and hopefully get a better picture of what was going on... may or may not have had a bearing on my decision to have the MX but I am getting so worried .. two cancers, two treatments? BCN said I am making the right decision... Just wish there was a better way of DXing all of us... That will give us peace of mind ASAP... Without having to make the wrong or right decisions (just the right ones) and knowing that we will be OK... I know that there is so many ladies out there that are worse off than me and can only give them my prayers... I just want to be able to get through this with some sort of sense that I have done the right thing and that the medical profession will find newer ways of detecting and treating us better, faster and more efficient.. Think I'm hoping for a miracle but Oh Well we can only LIVE IN HOPE... "think I just vented".. lol

vlnrph, Yes! I did know that.... because I'm in North Carolina.    I wish no one ever had to go through any of this again, and every thing they can do helps.