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etnasgrl
etnasgrl Member Posts: 650
edited November 2015 in IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma)

I've got a ton of questions, don't I? LOL! (Sorry....there is just SO much to process!)

Loopy

After the mammogram that detected my tumor, they did an ultrasound, and then the ultrasound guided core needle biopsy.
When I met with the surgical oncologist, she stated that based on the info that she currently had, it didn't look like the lymph nodes were affected. Obviously, we won't know 100% until after the lumpectomy is done. The info that the surgical oncologist was referring to was the ultrasound report, which I also have a copy of. When they did the ultrasound, they did both breasts and both under arms. The report states that no cancer is present in the lymph nodes.
My question is, how accurate is the ultrasound? If the ultrasound did not detect cancer in the lymph nodes, is that pretty reliable?

I'm scheduled for a breast MRI on Tuesday, so I'm sure that will be able to pick up more than the ultrasound did....but I'm just curious. Is it a good sign that the ultrasound didn't see anything in the lymph nodes?

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  • ksusan
    ksusan Member Posts: 4,505
    edited November 2015

    It's a good sign, but the only definitive test is biopsy of the lymph node.

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  • Rognteres
    Rognteres Member Posts: 6
    edited November 2015

    I recently went through the mammogram, US and breast MRI work up also. Those imaging tests are screening tools only, the only definitive way to determine whether the cancer has spread, is pathology once they have been removed.

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  • Skittlegirl
    Skittlegirl Member Posts: 428
    edited November 2015

    My ultrasound didn't pick up the enlarged lymph node. The MRI did pick it up, so then it was back for a biopsy on it, which came back positive.

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  • biscuits
    biscuits Member Posts: 3,304
    edited November 2015

    I had a PEM scan, as well as a full body Petscan, and nothing was picked up in the lymph nodes. When the lumpectomy was done, the BS did the SLN biopsy, and was surprised to find that there was cancerous cells in the lymph node. Sometimes the "mass or cluster" is just too small to pick up with any other testing method than an actual SLN biopsy

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