My mother passed away from breast cancer 5 years ago and her mother and grandmother before her. Since then, I've had multiple mammograms for questionable masses but have always been cleared. In January, a lump the size of a pea formed in my left breast. It could not be ruled out by mammograms or ultrasound (it is solid, no fluid) so a biopsy was performed. The biopsy result was benign, however the lump has not dissipated but seems larger and now an oblong shape. The area is still sore.
My concern is this: My mother had an annual mammogram and had been seeing her doctor for strange symptoms and pain for 14 months before she was finally diagnosed with advanced stage 4 breast cancer, prognosis terminal. She had the last mammo 4 months before the diagnosis and was probably already stage 4 during the mammo. Her type of cancer never formed lumps in her breasts so the mammos came back clear.
I have very dense breast tissue and a very unfortunate family history of breast cancer. I am 43 and in good health. I don't want to be overly concerned since the biopsy came back benign, but the situation with my mother has caused me to be cautious.
My question is, where do I go from here? Due to a move, I am not able to continue at the breast care center that did the biopsy but must find another doctor. How do I follow up with this? I would rather err on the side of caution, but don't want to overreact. Should I get a second opinion? Does the lump need to be rechecked if it does not dissipate?
Reply # - April 2, 2014, 08:52 PM
Reply To: Breast Cancer Scare–What Now?
If the nodule is growing, it's certainly reasonable to seek a second opinion, since it's always possible that the biopsy happened to miss the cancer and the biopsy was a "false negative". Also, I don't know if you have had genetic testing to check for a genetic predisposition like a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation, but if you have one of these familial syndromes in which there is a very high risk of breast cancer over a lifetime, some would consider prophylactic mastectomy (note: this is really only advocated for those with an identified very high risk).
I can't speak to what happened with your mother, but I think it will likely be helpful to get connected to a place that can do serial mammograms and look for changes, with follow up as needed.
Good luck.
-Dr. West