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Topic: Feeling nervous : NME 83 x 44mm in diameter

Forum: Not Diagnosed But Worried —

Breast cancer symptoms vary widely. According to the American Cancer Society, in addition to a lump, breast cancer symptoms can include swelling, skin irritation, dimpling, breast pain, changes to the nipple, thickening of the breast skin, or unusual nipple discharge. Still, some breast cancers cause no symptoms at all.

Note: Please do not post pictures of your symptoms. It's important to have anything unusual checked by your doctor.

Learn more about breast cancer symptoms and diagnosis. Check out our slideshows on testing anxiety, mammograms, and more.

Intro medically reviewed by: Brian Wojciechowski, M.D.
Last review date: November 22, 2020

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Posted on: Nov 20, 2020 07:48PM

Shezza33 wrote:

Hi everyone,

I am booked in for an MRI guided core needle biopsy this Friday.

Given issues that presented last year in my left breast (benign), plus a weird blue/grey discharge from right nipple and strong family history of BC I now receive annual breast mri’s alongside a mammogram.

My BS presented me with my latest MRI results on Tuesday which read:


MRI Bilateral Breasts

SUMMARY:

There is an area of non mass enhancement in the central aspect of the right breast extending from the 9-3 o’clock position.

No calcifications have been demonstrated on mammography.

The enhancement has atypical features and has progressed in comparison with the previous examination performed in 2019.

The area would be suitable for MRI guided biopsy.

FINDINGS:

Direct comparison with previous examinations performed in 2019 has been made.

Amount of fibroglandular tissue (FGT):

The breasts have a mixture of fibroglandular opacity and fatty replacement.

Background parenchyma enhancement (BPE):

Mild but asymmetrical.


No enhancing mass has been identified in either breast.

There is an area of non mass enhancement in the upper central right breast extending from the 9-3 o’clock positions.

The area of concern is located in the mid third of the breast and measures 83 x 44mm in diameter.

The fibroglandular tissue of the breast remains unchanged.

The enhancement is heterogeneous and clumped.

It has increased in comparison with the previous MRI.

There is also some parenchymal enhancement in the lateral aspect of the left breast but this does not have suspicious features and remains stable in comparison with the previous examinations.

There is no internal mammary or axillary lymphadenopathy.

There are no other findings of significance.

🤔

My mammogram didn’t show anything other than the small ovoid opacity in the medial aspect of the right breast which was on the previous mammogram last year.

A few days after my MRI (which was done on 11th Nov) I felt an uncomfortable kind of bruise feeling in the outer right top of my right breast, felt it and realised it felt weird and lumpy. I put it to the back of my mind until my appt with my BS on Tuesday to get my results, when he told me there’s a suspicious area of concern. It reminded me to mention the lumpy weird area. he felt the area and stated that it’s thickening, he then had a quick look with his portable US machine and was saying how normal breast tissue looks and then says that there’s a different presentation if it’s not. He started to have a look saying yep looks normal, see.... then he goes right over the area and says ‘oh, there’s an area that’s different, good thing you’re having an MRI guided biopsy’ (thanks doc for making me feel at ease..... not) the rest of the appointment felt awkward lol.

I’m freaking out on the inside, I’m a few weeks shy of turning 41 with 3 children at home and I also care for my husband who has brain cancer so am trying my hardest not to allow too many worrying thoughts in.

But the area being 83 x 44mm ( 8.3cm x 4.4cm) is huge.....

Anyone experienced similar?

TIA

Shezza3



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Nov 20, 2020 09:02PM MinusTwo wrote:

Shezza - Waiting is hard. Try to distract yourself.

In the mean time, it's better to stick with one thread. People who have been following you can see updates and get the history to date. Maybe you could update on the last thread you started and delete this one.

2/15/11 BMX-DCIS 2SNB clear-TEs; 9/15/11-410gummies; 3/20/13 recurrance-5.5cm,mets to lymphs, Stage IIIB IDC ER/PRneg,HER2+; TCH/Perjeta/Neulasta x6; ALND 9/24/13 1/18 nodes 4.5cm; AC chemo 10/30/13 x3; herceptin again; Rads Feb2014
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Nov 20, 2020 10:30PM Beesie wrote:

"But the area being 83 x 44mm ( 8.3cm x 4.4cm) is huge....."

Yes, it is huge. But it's not necessarily cancer. To my understanding, non-mass enhancement is less likely to be malignant than mass enhancement. And if it is malignant, it could be DCIS, which sometimes can really spread out in the ducts and cover a large area - I had over 7cm of DCIS - but is pre-invasive and Stage 0 no matter how large the area of DCIS.

The study referenced in this article found that almost 77% of NME lesions were benign and 43% of those that were malignant were DCIS alone, with no invasive component.

The MRI characteristics of non-mass enhancement lesions of the breast: associations with malignancy https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC65408...



Good luck with the biopsy! Hoping for benign results for you.



“No power so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” Edmund Burke
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Nov 21, 2020 07:48AM LivinLife wrote:

I had a 5 cm area as show on breast MRI - A good part of that was deemed non-mass enhancement. Upon final pathology after surgery there was a small area of DCIS (1.2 cm) and the rest was benign and precancerous conditions - a lot of the latter! though benign and precancerous... Agree with distracting yourself - take care of yourself and check back in please!

Dx 7/2020, DCIS, Left, 1cm, Stage 0, Grade 3, 0/1 nodes, ER+/PR+ Surgery 8/31/2020 Mastectomy: Left; Prophylactic mastectomy: Right
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Nov 27, 2020 06:40PM Shezza33 wrote:

Hi ladies,

Thanks for your kind words ☺️
I had my procedure yesterday it was an mri guided vacuum assisted breast biopsy, I barely felt anything and the staff at the centre were very caring and lovely.I have 2 incision points and they took 6 samples in different directions, the only time I felt anything really was when she said ‘we need to get a sample from your chest wall, it may feel uncomfortable but if it’s too much I’ll stop and add more local’ it didn’t hurt, it just felt like a weird pulling feeling.

there was lots of going in and out of the mri machine and 4 x contrast. With the last one checking placing of surgical clip.

We had plenty of jokes about vacuum cleaners and the fact that the machine/biopsy instrument as it was taking the samples sounded like one of those hand held mini sewing machines 😂😂

The mammogram afterwards to check placing of the surgical clip didn’t hurt either.

Hope all are doing ok and I’ll make sure I post my results when they are in


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Nov 27, 2020 07:13PM LivinLife wrote:

Thanks for updating us Shezza! Yes, please let us know when you get results....

Dx 7/2020, DCIS, Left, 1cm, Stage 0, Grade 3, 0/1 nodes, ER+/PR+ Surgery 8/31/2020 Mastectomy: Left; Prophylactic mastectomy: Right
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Dec 4, 2020 09:49AM Shezza33 wrote:

Hi All,

Popping in to let you know that my BS Nurse called my results through to me : "No Specific abnormality identified" :) I asked that she email me the results. I was surprised to see only the pathology report which is quite minimal and not the mri radiology report of the VABB as well.

Pathology report reads as follows:


Histopathology Report

CONCLUSION:

Core biopsy of right breast; no specific abnormality identified.

CLINICAL NOTES:

Non-mass enhancement (R) breast on MRI. Strong FH of breast cancer.

Histology. MRI guided VABB.

MACROSCOPIC:

Labelled 'Right breast VAB biopsy': multiple core biopsies 30x23x12mm in aggregate. 1A-1BxM, All embedded.

MICROSCOPIC:

The multiple portions of fibroadipose breast tissue are sectioned at several levels and exhibit glandular lobules of unremarkable appearance. Minor apocrine metaplasia is incidentally noted.

There is also focal microcalcification within acinar lumina. The stroma is uniformly of low cellularity and there is no atypical epithelial proliferation.

**End of report**


The nurse said I could see my BS to discuss results further in 2 weeks time and that it is likely that 'he'll just continue to monitor you with annual breast MRI and mammogram'. She then asked me if I had any bruising etc, I told her not much, stated that if anything changes or I become concerned about the biopsy sites to call before my appointment, she wished me well and that was it.

What a relief, I was petrified I was possibly joining the majority of my family members. Especially after one of my aunts who has IDC and DCIS ER+ freaked me out by saying that her BC showed up only on MRI as an area of NME and that she had to have a surgical biopsy after her core biopsy as the results of both the MRI and biopsy conflicted each other, according to her the core biopsy just missed by mm's. Obviously she is encouraging me to make sure that I request a copy of my MRI guided VABB report completed by the radiologist who performed the VABB to double check Hug Apart from my husband, she is the only other person I shared my MRI results and the need for a biopsy with.

Hope everyone is doing as well as possible x

Shezza33





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Dec 4, 2020 10:46AM Beesie wrote:

Shezza33, so glad to hear that your results are good. Congratulations!

And thanks for letting us know!

“No power so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” Edmund Burke
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Dec 5, 2020 08:58AM LivinLife wrote:

Great on results!!!

Dx 7/2020, DCIS, Left, 1cm, Stage 0, Grade 3, 0/1 nodes, ER+/PR+ Surgery 8/31/2020 Mastectomy: Left; Prophylactic mastectomy: Right
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Dec 5, 2020 10:06AM Shezza33 wrote:

Thanks Beesie and LivinLife Heart

Reckon i have an infection brewing.... burning feeling in my breast with sharp shooting pains and throbbing pains near nipple, painful right armpit including area between breast and armpit, tender burning feeling upper outer area heading up towards top of chest, accidentally scared the daylights out of my 6 yr old as he snuggled into me on the couch and i jumped and yelped. Felt a tad nauseous tonight so took some maxalon. Biopsy entry points look to have changed colour, so have changed my dressing and used a saline wash. Off to Dr's tomorrow to get antibiotics so I can jump on it as quickly as possible.

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