Radial Scar

emmay92

Hi All,

Just looking to connect with people who may have had similar experiences or diagnosis.

I went for my first breast check, age 32 due to a concern on my right side. This was clear on imaging, however the ultrasound found architectual distortion on the left. This lead to a mammogram, mri, core biopsy and lumpectomy.

Final pathology was 2 x separate radial scars, Florid benign changes including fibrocystic changes, UDH, PASH, sclerosing adenosis, apocrine adenosis, columnar cell change, columnar cell hyperplasia, and duct ectasia. The radial scar extends to the inferior and superior margins.

Luckily no malignancy found (after a Birads 5 score from imaging, so what a relief!)

I also have Cat D density and moderate BPE on the MRI for both sides..

Just wanted to reach out to people who have had similar stories and what it looked like for them going forward with subsequent risk.

maggie15

Hi @emmay92, I’m glad your birads5 imaging was not cancer. Radial scars are benign but grow in a tissue environment that is favorable for breast cancer. They can also hide tumors on imaging. I had a mammogram callback for architectural distortion which resulted in a birads2 score. Two and a half years and two additional clear mammograms later a 3.2 cm tumor was found after an oral surgeon told me I had cancer somewhere since I had osteomyelitis in my jawbone (strange but true.) The pathology report said the tumor margins contained numerous radial scars which explained why it was missed. Since I probably have radial scars remaining in my breast post lumpectomy my surgeon recommended that I have a manual breast exam by a provider experienced in this twice a year so that anything not visible on imaging can be caught as soon as it is palpable.

From what I have read the chances of cancer occurring with a radial scar are anywhere from 2% to 40%. If this happens it is usually DCIS but in a few instances (like mine) it is invasive. Be vigilant and in addition to mammograms have yearly breast exams done by a women’s health provider who is specifically trained in this. Hopefully you’ll remain cancer free.

moderators

@emmay92 - Welcome to the community! It’s such a relief to hear that your imaging and pathology results didn’t reveal any malignancy, especially after a BIRADS 5 scare.

A big thanks to @maggie15 for sharing such a helpful and informative post. 💖

If you're interested, we have an article on Radial Scars that might be helpful to you.

We hope you find this space a supportive place to share and learn as you navigate your next steps. Let us know if there's anything we can do to support you!

Sincerely,

The Mods

emmay92

thank you @maggie15 for your reply and sharing your story. It is helpful to have people to share with (even though online) :)

asanisimasa

Hi @emmay92 I am 30 years old and was recently diagnosed with a radial scar in my right breast after experiencing bloody nipple discharge—I'm having a lumpectomy to remove it at the end of the month. Mine also did not show on a mammogram, it was only found during the ultrasound. I'm curious, did they also do an ultrasound of your other breast as well? I am a little concerned since the radial scar did not show on the mammogram, but I have been told by the breast center that since nothing showed on the mammogram in the left breast, they will not do an ultrasound (which makes no sense).

maggie15

Mammograms have a higher rate of detecting breast cancer than ultrasounds so screening ultrasounds are not done. My radial scars were not visible on either mammograms or ultrasounds but were found in the tumor margins during my lumpectomy pathology. The tumor did not show up on mammograms (it was hidden by the radial scars) but was visible on US. Radial scars are often picked up because of physical symptoms or mammographic irregularities like architectural distortion.

Even with stage 2 cancer in my right breast no imaging other than mammograms has been done on my left. My breast surgeon recommended that I have a clinical breast exam by an experienced provider every year to help catch anything that a mammogram might miss.

emmay92

Hi @asanisimasa

I am sorry to hear you have also found yourself going through this at a young age.

Interesting to hear of your symptoms, as radial scars commonly have no clinical symptoms present.
Has anything else showed in your pathology results at this stage?

I am in Australia and for me it was imaging of both breasts with ultrasound first due to my age of being 31 at the time and then mammograms and mri of both.

I would really push to get imaging done of both breasts. As for me my reason for getting imaging done was a concern on my right side but then they found no issues in the right but found the radial scar on the left side! I had no symptoms on my left at all, so had they only checked the one side I would still have no idea of the issues that were growing on my left side!! Which leaves me worried knowing that these issues can be there with no symptoms at all.

All the best with your lumpectomy and I hope your final pathology is clear. But please advocate for yourself and get both sides checked. Let me know how you get on, I will be coming up for my 1 year post op check and re-imaging soon so will be glad when that is all done and behind me.

take care

emmay92

also, breast density plays a big part in what can be missed on a mammogram. If you have high density breasts your risk is increased and small abnormalities can be missed… please get an ultrasound at least of both, ultrasound is recommended in Australia along with a mammogram if you have dense breasts.