Can 3D mammogram miss cancer

Hi Euro,

Here is a link to a good explanation: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/3d-mammogram/about/pac-20438708

"Detect slightly more cancers than a standard mammogram alone. Studies indicate that combining a 3D mammogram with a standard mammogram can result in about one more breast cancer for every 1,000 women screened when compared with standard mammogram alone."

If you have dense breast tissue, it is possible for mammogram to miss a cancer. Regular mammograms miss approximately 20% of all breast cancers. I'm not sure where you live, but some states now have laws that require your doctor to inform you at the time of your mammogram if you have dense breast tissue and may need additional follow up / screening.

I have a friend who pushed her insurance company and got an MRI covered (based on my experience and her learning that she had dense breast tissue).

Hope that helps!

It can definitely be more accurate. It can also result in false positives. That (and the ridiculous cost) are the main reasons insurance companies and doctors are so hesitant to recommend it and cover it.

*My personal opinion* is that MRI should be the standard for BC screening. But I'm a little jaded on this topic......

It sure missed my cancer. I had a clear 3D mammogram in August, plus exploration by breast cancer surgeon, and three months later I found myself a lump in my underarm. It was breast cancer that had spread to my lymph nodes and the primary tumor was 3.5 cm. I had dense breasts -do you have dense breasts? My MRI pre-surgery, after having chemo and no palpable tumor anymore, also missed a remaining 2.5 cm tumor, but again, my breast was dense.

I also had cysts that were benign, had had them for a long time (20+ years) but they were biopsied to confirm, even if they looked benign. Did the Dr explain the differences to you, and why they are so sure it is benign? I wouldn't stop until getting confirmation, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the cyst is not cancer.

LaughingGull me too. I went from "free and clear" to stage 3C in about 9 months. I knew walking out of my mammo appointment that something was wrong but never got a copy of the mammo report, and didn't know any better that I should have followed up on anything. Also didn't know that {some} doctors only tell you what they think you want/need to know. Hard lesson to learn.

DJmammo - I read all of your posts with great interest. Is there anything being to move that effort forward? If I won the lottery, I would just pay for MRI's for everyone with dense breast tissue.

A quick clarification of my post above

When the law says you have to be informed that additional studies would be helpful for dense breasts, it is referring to the lay letter that you receive from the imaging center about a week after your study. It is an ACR requirement that these letters are sent to everyone having a mammogram both screening and diagnostic.

Although density is alway remarked upon in the report, there is not yet a requirement to add the statement indicating additional studies would be helpful in the case of dense breasts within the report.

The radiologist who did my 3D Mammogram and Ultrasound missed my breast cancer. Upon request, was referred to a surgeon at a different hospital and he sent me for a second opinion because he recognized I had advanced breast cancer. The new radiologist saw it on ultrasound and did a biopsy right there. The hospital did a breast MRI too and it showed almost no normal breast tissue.

So yes, a mammogram can miss cancer and this is especially true with dense breast tissue.

I've had cysts found with mammograms and ultrasounds and 1 biopsy, nothing, after bloody discharge I got an MRI. It found 4 hyperplasias, 1 Atypical. An MRI can definitely find things a mammogram and an ultrasound doesn't especially if you have dense breast tissue.

I had a 3D mammogram miss a bunch of things found on an ultrasound, all determined to be benign, one after a needle core biopsy that was discordant benign, followed by an excisional biopsy that was definitively benign. It is a bit horrifying though that no doctor has suggested I get an MRI since my breasts are very dense.

But from what I've read, while an MRI will find cancer, it will also find a lot of false positives to be investigated. That seems to be true of ultrasounds too though. Wish these less invasive testing methods were more accurate as to avoid constant biopsies.