dimple

HI gingacookiie,

Each imaging center does things differently in terms of letting you know results. Have you had a mammogram before?

Also, have you considered discussing any genetic testing, with the history in your family? It may be something you find helpful.

Please keep us posted

The Mods

Hello, gingacooki. You and your doctors are right to evaluate the dimple even though you do not feel a lump. As you mention in your other thread (best to stick to one, actually), ILC can show up as a dimple without a palpable lump. A dimple is not necessarily cancer, but it should be looked at. Googling will not help you diagnose.

So, the first suggestion I want to make is about getting a proper evaluation. Age 33 is young, and young women tend to have dense breast tissue, which makes it harder to see what's what on a mammogram. However, a 3-D mammogram (tomosynthesis) does a better job than an old-fashioned mammogram. Please make sure your doctor is sending you to a facility with 3-D equipment and has ordered this type of mammogram. The ultrasound would follow, maybe on the same day, to look more closely at anything the mammogram picks up. Now, if these two tests show nothing, the next step would be a breast MRI. A breast MRI is very good at imaging young, dense tissue and also at picking up ILC that sometimes does not show up on mammogram or ultrasound. I think your age and family history should qualify you. Be forewarned that breast MRI is very sensitive, meaning it picks up lots of things, some not cancer, so there is a risk of ending up getting a biopsy that turns out to show benign.

My second suggestion is that given the fact both your mother and grandmother had breast cancer, you get an appointment with a cancer genetics specialist, not just a general doctor/surgeon/oncologist. This person will look at your medical family tree and make an expert recommendation about genetic testing. It is a common misconception that if a person does not have a BRCA mutation, then there is no genetic link to the family breast cancer history. Wrong. There are other mutations that confer an increased risk for breast cancer, and many of them also confer a greater risk for other types of cancer, and these may show up in the family. So the expert can order a panel testing for more than BRCA. Perhaps your relatives did not have the breast cancer type typical for a BRCA mutation, but that does not rule out a different gene. Learning of a mutation can give valuable information for screening, monitoring, and treatment. Breast cancer is common, and I'm not saying you do have a mutation, just that getting a proper evaluation is smart.

In general, if you can access a university-based cancer center, or an NCCN center (or its equivalent in a country not the US), the more confident I am that you will be properly evaluated. It is encouraging that your doctor is not dismissing your concern.

Waiting for testing is nerve-wracking. Don't assume it is cancer; you don't know that it is. Be good to yourself. Do what helps you, such as exercise, distraction, and relaxation techniques. Please come back and let us know.