Ah, this is why Dr. Google is dangerous. You are mixing up your googling and drawing a completely incorrect conclusion.

The presence of intramammary lymph nodes on mammogram and ultrasound imaging is not an problem. They are a normal part of our anatomy.

The concern comes when an intramammary lymph node is found to be cancerous. This is usually found in conjunction with a breast cancer diagnosis or, on preliminary imaging, a suspicious lesion.

When a Radiologist sees an intramammary lymph node on imaging, an assessment is made based on the appearance of the node, with the Radiologist looking for very specific factors that identify the node as being a normal node that is benign. If these factors are not all there, then a biopsy will be ordered. But if the node meets all the criteria for being benign, a BIRADs 3 may be assigned just to be extra cautious.

Intramammary lymph nodes

"There are two critical issues in evaluating intramammary lymph nodes on mammograms:

1. the nodes are - without exception - smoothly circumscribed and well defined. If the lesion is not very neatly and clearly outlined or loses this feature on follow up studies, it is not a simple node.
2. the nodes are low density lesions. If they are projected over the profile of the muscle, you will see the muscle through the node. If this feature disappears or the "node" increases in density on follow up you are not dealing with a simple lymph node. To judge the density of a node, look for one in the tail of the breast on the MLO view - they should have similar densities.

If these two criteria are kept in mind, these lesions will rarely cause confusion or misdiagnosis."

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Lymph Node: Non-Cancerous Breast Masses

"Seeing a lymph node on a patient's first mammogram may prompt additional imaging to ensure that the mass is in fact a normal lymph node. Additionally, any changes in previously seen normal lymph nodes will also prompt additional imaging evaluation. However if there is no known personal history of cancer, the vast majority of lymph nodes encountered in the breast are benign. Once I can establish a normal baseline appearance for intramammary and axillary lymph nodes through imaging or possibly biopsy, I can be confident on future mammograms that the mass represents a benign lymph node as long as no imaging changes have occurred."

Glad to have helped!

Hopefully you have no worries before then and we'll 'see' you in 6 months when you have your successful / stable follow-up!

Not a problem. You have lymph nodes all over your body. When they are visualized on breast imaging they are noted-this is a normal finding.The fact that they are there doesn’t mean that there is anything whatsoever wrong with them.