MRI on Thursday

GracieGirl2016
GracieGirl2016 Member Posts: 9
edited June 2021 in ILC (Invasive Lobular Carcinoma)

Hi, Mammo and sono found small tumor (6mm) and ILC and LCIS confirmed with biopsy. I have been told repeatedly that I have “extremely dense breasts,” and so my question is about people’s experiences with the MRI imaging as I try to prepare myself for the results. Were your initial biopsy results typically confirmed by the MRI or did the MRI find more/bigger cancer leading to more biopsies? Thanks for your help

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  • Veeder14
    Veeder14 Member Posts: 880
    edited June 2021

    Hi GracieGirl201

    My tumor only showed up on MRI, 5mm at biopsy, 8mm at surgery. So glad my doctor ordered the MRI. I hope your MRI confirms the 6 mm and not larger.

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  • Dani444
    Dani444 Member Posts: 522
    edited June 2021

    My mammogram measured the area at 3.3 x 4cm, ultrasound was 1.6 x 2.1 x 1.9. My MRI measured it at 2.6cm. There were satellite lesions found on MRI and I chose to have them biopsied. My surgeon said I could just go for a mastectomy and not do the biopsy. The biopsy was benign but led a radiologist at the tumor board to suggest my actual tumor size was 4.7 cm after she looked closely at my clip placement mammo. My tumor turned out to be 4.8 cm at surgical pathology. That radiologist is what led my surgeon to say that she recommended mastectomy over lumpectomy. I am very grateful for that because had I gotten a lumpectomy we most likely would not have gotten good margins. ILC is tricky to image because of the way the cells grow. That is most likely why each imaging type measured it differently.

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  • brittonkb
    brittonkb Member Posts: 102
    edited June 2021

    Mine was not ILC but I have extremely dense tissue. Mammogram didn't find anything and then I found a lump 6 months later. After diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound, they thought my tumor was 2.1 cm. Then had MRI and reduced the estimate to 2.0 cm with no lymph node involvement. After surgery, discovered that tumor was 4.5cm with 3 lymph nodes positive including one with extranodal extension. I switched my care at that point to a major cancer center. Fast forward a year and I just had my routine MRI screening last week. This was the first time I learned that MRI machines can have different magnetic strengths. My new cancer center only uses a 3T machine which is higher strength. I called the center where I had my initial MRI and wasn't surprised to learn it was a 1.5T machine. If I could go back in time, I'd make sure the MRI machine was 3T to get the clearest image. I can't help but wonder if the 3T machine would have been better at detecting the size and spread of my cancer.

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  • GracieGirl2016
    GracieGirl2016 Member Posts: 9
    edited June 2021

    Thank you, this is very helpful, I will call right now to find out!

    Turns out it is a 3T machine, thanks for making me more knowledgable!


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  • GracieGirl2016
    GracieGirl2016 Member Posts: 9
    edited June 2021

    Brittonkb, thanks for sharing your experience, the more I read, the more I understand that ILC grows in strange shapes making it hard to measure, and hard to get good margins.

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