Mass Measurement- HELP

Hi 98765, the difference in size assessment is actually small. I don't think it matters. Did you have a biopsy? What is the diagnosis?

1.2 cm is less than half an inch. It is tiny. My radiologist told me that tumors smaller than one centimeter are often not detectable through mammogram. ER+ and HER- is a very good sign. You can add that info to your profile and it will help others to help you.

The mammogram image fits the size of the screen on which the radiologist views it. I asked to see my images and found the viewing room (whatever they actually call it) had several chairs, each facing a large screen, perhaps three feet in its largest dimension. The software allows the radiologist to magnify areas of concern to study them more closely; the measurement software adjusts accordingly. In addition, they can split the screen to simultaneously view different views (at least 8, maybe 16), including comparisons between current and past images. I suppose they can view an ultrasound in similar fashion. By the way, because of patient confidentiality, all the other radiologists had to clear the room and clear their screens to allow me to enter, so my visit was short.

Do spend some time on the info part of www.breastcancer.org; there are oodles of dropdown menus that hold almost every bit of info you might want right now. Also, if your breast center has a nurse or social worker whose job it is to guide you through treatment, please do not hesitate to ask her everything. Once you meet with your surgeon (probably your next step), you will have a much better idea of that same everything.

Stage 1 goes all the way up to 2 cm. I got that staging info after my surgery in my surgical pathology report.

My experience was that during the ultrasound the largest dimension of my suspicious area was 7 mm. They did an ultrasound guided biopsy, and told me that it was "very small, very early".

The pathology report after my surgery had measurements of all 3 dimensions, and the largest measurement was 1.1 cm. My cancer is invasive tubulolobular, so that can be tricky to detect and can spread in little lines of cells. It wasn't visible on standard mammography at all, only on a 3D mammogram.

When I was diagnosed, the radiologist who did my biopsy phoned me and told me an outline of the treatment plan, and sure enough, all these months later, she was completely correct about what my treatment has ended up being. I was also able to get a copy of my biopsy pathology report, so I could look things up and try to understand better.

Hope this helps and doesn't just make things more confusing. I'm sorry you're going through this!

I joined this forum 5 years ago when I had a biopsy that came back benign.(I had a lot of questions beforehand because I was super nervous.)

I was diagnosed in May and my surgery was in June of this year. I started radiation this week. My surgery had clean margins, and no lymph node involvement. My medical team is very confident and hopeful that I'll be fine soon, and for many, many years to come.

So I'm well enough, but still in treatment.....not that many months ahead of you.