Dense Breast Tissue Can't Be Seen On Mammo
Hi, I'm new here. Last May I found a lump by chance and went to have a manual exam at a local breast center. The nurse pract did a very thorough exam. She thought it was a cyst.
She sent me for a diagnostic mammo and Ultrasound. Long story. But the mammo saw NOTHING! I wish you could read my report! No abnormalities found!!
If I had relied on the mammo report and had no other diagnostics my tumor would NEVER had been caught so early!!
Right after I had the mammo I had a ultrasound. And it was SO obvious that it was cancer. They wanted me to go have a biopsy right away.
Long story. But my tumor was caught at 3-4mm! Ultrasound is a excellent way to catch breast cancer very early!!
I have what they term as "extremely dense breast tissue". Dense tissue shows up white on a mammogram. Cancer ALSO shows up white. That is why the denser your tissue is, the more they cannot see cancer on a mammogram.
I'm so thankful I had a ultrasound!! They do not cost a lot either! So I would highly suggest if you know you have dense breast tissue(it says on yr mammogram report what you have) tell your health professional you are demanding to have a bilateral breast ultrasound! It may save yr life!
This website: (won't let me post the link). (Look up areyoudense dot org )will show you a map of where they have breast density reporting laws. Most states have laws now where if you have dense breast tissue legally you have a right to a ultrasound.
I hope my experience helps someone.
My maternal gma died of bc. My maternal aunt had lobular cancer diagnosis two wks prior to my diagnosis. Now I'm having ultrasounds every 6 mo.
Advocate for yourself. So important!
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I second that opinion! I had a 4CM tumor that the radiologist couldn’t see on mammo! So even if it is large, do not assume it will show up. Too young for annual mammo, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Had a clinical breast exam at my pcp two months prior Early detection by screening isn’t the panacea they claim it to be.
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Wow! I'm so glad you advocated for yrself! Good for you! 4cm is large tumor!
I think the annual mammo age is so incredibly stupid! Like somehow yr breasts suddenly need to be examined at 40?? Who thinks these things up? And they will show something they couldn't show at 30?! Grrr. Makes me mad.
My gma died when I was early 30s and I pushed at that time to have mammos Back then tho I didn't know what dense tissue meant on my mammo report. I'm so glad I'm educated about it now.
I'm pushing now tho for my daughter to have exams regularly. Ultrasounds. Women in my family won't ever have another mammo. My mom even still has dense tissue!! Completely useless to us. Can't see a thing on us. I realize for 60% of women with fatty tissue they can see cancer. It's the rest of us, the 40% of women with dense tissue that are stuck holding the short end of the stick!
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I'm glad US imaging worked for you. Only MRI caught my IDC--even when that imaging was available, the people doing the US-guided biopsies had a terribly hard time finding it and ultimately don't seem to have sampled all of the sites because they couldn't see them on ultrasound.
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yeah, I have a daughter in college and I’m not sure what to do there. Im sure she will qualify for early screening, but when? And what’s the point if she also has dense breasts? Stuck between wanting to protect them and not wanting to cause extra anxiety
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Ksusan: That is amazing ultrasound never caught your cancer. I will say though it matters who is doing the ultrasound. A very experienced tech is good to have. But MRI is supposed to be good as well! If ultrasound had not seen my lump they would have done a MRI. Just think mammo's are useless......for me anyway.
I am so glad they caught your cancer though!
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Peachymom:
I too have a daughter in college. I was dx with br cancer just over my 50th bday was 49 when I found it. They WILL allow a ultrasound for your daughter....but you have to push for it. Because you have a cancer dx you shouldn't have to push your doc very much regarding this. If you have to push and they don't listen....go to someone else until you find someone who will do the referral. We have a great nurse pract who only works at a breast center, that is her specialty. She was completely fine with my daughter having a bilateral ultrasound. They found a andenoma and are following that for 2 yr (protocol)...ultrasounds every 6 months. I am very thankful that we have started her having breast exams.....I think the starting at 40 thing is just crazy.
I think I have had dense tissue my whole life....my mom has it as well and she is 72. Some practitioners may say for your daughter to wait til she is 35 but in our situation I wanted my daughter to start now. It never hurts to have diagnostics. No anxiety unless they find something and even then....I'd rather know than not know.
You have to make the right decision though for you and your daughter. I don't expect everyone to do what we did. For us it was the right thing to do. I understand what you both are going through though. My dad said to me after my cancer surgery when I found another lump and was scared.....'honey this is the new norm for you.....just have to be positive and have it checked'. He was right. The second lump was nothing.
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Cpeachymom, I've been told that screening for daughters starts at 40, or 10 years before your diagnosis. So, if you're diagnosed at 40, your daughter(s) screening will start at 30. It may be different if there is a strong family history, or genetic predisposition (I don't have either).
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Operamom: You are right. That is what they told me. They said that technically when my daughter should start screening would be 10 yrs prior to my dx (would be 39 for her) but I pushed for her to have it done earlier. They said that was fine, for now. I am glad I did. They found a andenoma which they are following. I still don't understand telling women not to screen until 40. Nothing magical happens when a woman turns 40....just so strange they do that.
Maybe it was different for me. My Grandmother died of br cancer. My aunt was diagnosed with lobular br cancer two weeks prior to my br cancer diagnosis. I don't have any sisters, my mother has never had br cancer. Although she has had biopsies....all benign.
I did take the genetic testing....all were neg.
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I had very dense breast tissue in my left breast. When I was diagnosed with a +/+/- 7.5 mm mass in my right breast my surgeon decided to do an MRI to make sure we weren't missing anything. I thank God that she did! The MRI detected a +/+/+ mass twice as big as the mass on the right side! They looked at my mammograms from the past 3 years to see if something had been missed and it could not be seen in any of them!
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Thanks operamom, that makes sense. She would start at 29 then.
Jons- I suspect they start mammos at 40 because the vast majority of BC is in older women and there is the cumulative risk of all that additional radiation from mammos? I agree there’s no magic transition at that age. I feel it downplays the risk in younger women
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Thanks, Jons girl. It just goes to show that no single imaging technique yet works for everyone.
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How coincidental that I found this particular list today. I saw the BS today for 1 week post op partial mastectomy and lymph node removal. My 5-6.5 cm tumor wasn't discovered until last June not because they saw it on the mammogram but they saw 2-3 enlarged lymph nodes. Ultrasound didn't see it either and that done at a cancer center in FL. It was only seen on MRI. I had another MRI mid-chemo which said it had shrunk 50%. Yay. But at surgery the tumor was really 6.5 cm and 2/30 nodes were positive. She even managed to get clear margins. I had always had a notation on mammogram reports that I had moderately dense breasts with negative results over many years but there was never, ever a suggestion that an MRI should be done, or an US for that matter. Perhaps my only saving grace that it was a slow growing cell. The BS estimates that it could have been there for 10 years. Honestly, I want to shout from the rooftops that if a woman has dense breasts that she needs an MRI at least every 5 years to get a real look. It makes me sad to think that there are so many women out there who could benefit. Perhaps I could have done all this 5 years ago before and had it over with by now. I'm 79 years old and a newlywed (believe that or not!) and I'd really like to have at least 10 years with this guy and more, if possible. Can't say for sure now.
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For those of you, I think there were two of you so far that have said their cancer wasn't found on ultrasound......this question is for you:
I have extremely dense breast tissue...that is how they categorized me on the BIRAD scale. So if that is the case, why did they see my cancer on a ultrasound? I have been told Ultrasound and MRI always catch cancer. If both of you had ultrasounds and the cancer wasn't ever seen, how is that possible?? I know sometimes lobular breast cancer can't be seen on ultrasound. Did either of you have any lobular breast cancer components? I am so confused by this! Maybe it is because i had a really good ultrasound tech? Not sure. But until recently I had no idea they couldn't see Ductal Breast Cancer on ultrasound. They saw mine so obviously! Even showed the blood source to it.
Can either of you help me understand why they could see mine when I have the most dense tissue a woman can have....and yet both of your cancers were not seen?
Thank you in advance for any light you can shed on this for me. It is so wonderful they caught both your cancer....wow that is so amazing!
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Jons girl - I have no idea why they couldn't see mine on US. I had my US done at Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa, FL which should have the best equiptment and best technicians. I watched as she did it and she really, really searched and saw nothing and it was a large tumor. Even the radiologist report said there was nothing. It was pretty plainly seen on the MRI which the tech could see exactly where it was supposed to be so it wasn't a wild search at all. If your tumor was seen on US, so much the better I would think. My tumor had no lobular components.
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It is miraculous your tumor was found so early. I am happy for you and thankful for you!
I am passionate about informing women about dense breast tissue.
My sister's STAGE 3C breast cancer was not seen on either 3D Mammogram or ultrasound. They only saw a tiny bit
of compression. The Radiologist biopsied because both myself and our mother were breast cancer survivors. I am
grateful every day they did.
GOOD LUCK to you and keep getting the word out. There is a good website about dense breast tissue called.
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Gussy: Wow that is so amazing! I am so glad you had a MRI! That is such a blessing they found your tumor!!
Denise: Thank you for your kind words! I am so passionate about dense breast tissue awareness as well! I completely understand!! Yes it is remarkable I found my lump. My medical oncologist told me it was very remarkable I had found it. I am so thankful!
Wow that is amazing about your mother and you and your sister all having bc....and it is a blessing they found your sisters cancer! They didn't see hers on a ultrasound either!? Wow I am wondering now if I should have a yearly MRI! I am so shocked they are missing so many bc tumors on ultrasound!!
Yes areyoudense.org is a fantastic website! I have my story posted there. There are so many amazing stories there about women like myself that have dense breast tissue and who got br cancer! Have you and your sister and mother had genetic testing done? I had it done but it was all negative to my surprise. I was happy it was of course but my gma and my aunt (both on my mom's side) both had breast cancer, my gma died of it. Cancer still has so many doctors stumped.....so many questions that still need answering. My onco surgeon told me there is much they are still learning, some info they thought was right they are learning is wrong. She has been practicing for over 30 yrs. Amazing doctor. But she is honest and says how it is. There is just alot they still don't know.
Thank you for sharing Denise....I hope cancer never ever returns for you, your mother or your sister.....blessings to you all.
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Jons_girl - oh so glad your story is on www.areyoudense.org !! There are so many amazing stories there!
Glad that you had genetic testing, however, makes me wonder with all of the breast cancer in your family. My sister's breast surgeon
said she sees many families with breast cancer and sometimes they test negative, but she feels they may have a gene that has not
been discovered yet. Makes sense.
My sister and I had Chek 2 mutation. My mom did not and was the luck of the draw.
Keep up the good work on informing about dense breast tissue. Do you know about the Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) that
helps with dense breast? No personal experience, but it sounds good!
GOOD LUCK!
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Will chime in here with my missed mammo story.
Had been getting 3D mammos since the age of 39 due to family history. No mammo ever saw anything. In late 2016, I felt a small lump -- and I was very small-chested or pretty much guarantee I would not have felt anything -- and mammo done while I was pointing out the tumor showed zilch. (Images all white, I was told.) US really almost missed it, too, because radiologist's first words to me: good catch. (He said it was very faint and I feel he would have missed if I was not, again, saying: it's right there!).
MRI of course noted all. I am ILC, so that didn't help. I have read this story (mammo missing the tumor(s)) over and over and over again. I feel for all those ladies who are going out in the world feeling good about a positive mammo. That was me one day not so long ago, too.
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I have been told Ultrasound and MRI always catch cancer. If both of you had ultrasounds and the cancer wasn't ever seen, how is that possible??
Because it's not true--they don't always catch it. No lobular components, just a good-sized IDC.
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3-D mammo missed mine completely and ultrasound only saw a small distortion that was being (monitored) for three years!!!! I even asked them to take out the suspicious area, but was told "it's nothing to worry about", "it hasn't changed from one mammo to the next". They were only seeing 2mm of a 3.5 CM tumor! It didn't look like it had changed much because of its slow growth. I'm still mad at myself and them for missing it.
It was hidden in dense fibrotic tissue. Makes me sad to think of how different my treatment would have been if caught earlier. I did everything I was supposed to do so I thought
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This was at a breast center too. They look at breast images all day. MRI was the only image that saw the entire tumo
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Hi everyone. I had a 1cm IDC tumor show up on 3D mammo. I was about to have a lumpectomy but then a preoperative MRI showed a 1cm ILC tumor that both the mammo and the ultrasound missed. So if I didn't have IDC I never would have known I had ILC. Obviously I think MRIs are a must for dense breasts. Good luck to all...
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Oceanbum, Eastcoast, dtad, and Mama1416 and whomever else I haven't responded to: Thank you so very much for sharing your stories and experiences with dense breast tissue and cancer. It is amazing what each one of you have gone through. I hope more people keep sharing about their experiences. We can ALL learn from eachother and what each of us have gone through is unique often a bit different than someone else's experience. So thank you! I send a hug to each of you!
QUESTION to those of you who have IDC and who had a ultrasound MISS your cancer: (I am hoping I am not overstepping with this question)
Are you large breasted?
The reason I ask this question is I have been told by a very reputable source that larger breasts are much more difficult for the ultrasound to be able to get all the way through the breast tissue. Smaller breasted women they can see more easily through the tissue.
Also Ultrasounds historically miss Lobular Cancer. MRI I think is the only diagnostic tool that can find lobular cancer.
I am very small breasted....usually wear bra size A. So after reading your stories.....I am now wondering....could they have missed something in one of my breasts? Or is it just because the women they didn't catch their cancer on ultrasound were large breasted women? So I am curious if this really makes a difference on whether breast cancer is caught on ultrasound.
I am seriously considering having a MRI done at my next yearly appt. instead of ultrasound. I hate the thought of having to have IV stuff put in me during the MRI! I don't understand why they can't just simply do a MRI without it. I know it lights up the cancer but I hate IV's!!!
Thank you in advance for your answers. Appreciate you all!!
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Hi Jons_girl,
I'm about medium size but have dense breasts. My Lobular cancer was found on MRI only. Mammogram mid year didn't show it nor did the ultrasound done after the MRI. It's scary to think that if I had continued with mammograms only, the cancer would have been so much more invasive before found. The MRI with contrast wasn't that bad, although I don't like the amount of contrast exposure after having several MRI's. I think it's good to get a baseline MRI done.
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Hi Jons_girl,
I'm about medium size but have dense breasts. My Lobular cancer was found on MRI only. Mammogram mid year didn't show it nor did the ultrasound done after the MRI. It's scary to think that if I had continued with mammograms only, the cancer would have been so much more invasive before found. The MRI with contrast wasn't that bad, although I don't like the amount of contrast exposure after having several MRI's. I think it's good to get a baseline MRI done. I'm glad I did last year so there was a comparison film.
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I was 38C. Now I'm flat.
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Hello all
I have posted this on another thread but a mammogram caught my DCIS which couldn’t be seen on an US. I then had a MRI which just confirmed the size of the DCIS.
I had a mx and the pathology found DCIS another lot that wasn’t seen on anything mammo, us, and MRI. It was 5mm.
What on Earth are we meant to do? X
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Jonsgirl...yes I had very large breasts, DDD. Also you might want to try taking Xanax for your MRI. A lot of us do. Its should not be a problem getting a prescription. IMO MRIs are a must for dense breast screening! Good luck and keep us posted.
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I am hoping I didn't offend anyone with my question above. I realize some of you have had mastectomies....so please know I wasn't trying to be unkind in my questioning. Thank you for responding to my question. I am unsure if ultrasounds not being able to see through larger breasts was actually a issue or if it doesn't matter. I appear to be smaller chested than all of you so I am wondering if I am good with just having a ultrasound because of that....there isn't much to have to see through. I can feel my ribs in alot of my breast tissue.....dtad thank you for telling me about xanax. I have something I can take for helping with anxiety in MRI's. I am pretty claustrophobic.....so still trying to decide what I am going to do. But I have a bit of time before I go in for another exam....few months.
I am thinking to post a new post on this specific modality of scanning for cancer and see if there are indeed smaller chested women who's cancer was missed on a ultrasound.
Lobular cancer is historically not found on a ultrasound.....unless you have a really good tech that knows what it looks like. So that would not surprise me to be missed on a ultrasound. But they should be able to catch IDC I would think on a smaller chested woman? Still going to ask around...
Thank you so much for your comments....hoping more ladies will chime in too!
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Jonsgirl...IMO the denseness rather than the size is key to difficult screening. Good luck to all
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