Breast MRI vs. Ultrasound

kmglcg

I had breast cancer a year and a half ago. Underwent 2 surgeries for lumpectomy, followed by chemotherapy and radiation. Since I completed my treatments, I have been extremely sore. For this reason, I do not feel ready to be compressed by mammography. I discussed this with my dr. and we decided to do a breast MRI. Well, wouldn't you know it, it came back showing 2 lesions in the previously affected breast (one in the same tumor area) and 1 lesion in the other breast. NOW, they are wanting to do and Ultrasound to verify what the MRI revealed. - Isn't that kind of working backwords? - I thought MRI was supposed to be the superior diagnostic tool. I would have expected to be going in for a biopsy resulting from this MRI, not another diagnostic test. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Future

The way it was explained to me was: Breast MRI is stilled considered a fairly new diagnostic tool; radiologists are still learning and tend to lean on the side of caution. Breast MRIs are not done as often as mammos so it's taking longer to get data on reading the MRI and determing what's a false positive. I know it's anxiety provoking wondering if the cancer has reoccured but with ultrasound they could decide if a cone biopsy could be done and avoid additional surgery. Take care and let us know how it goes.

KimInBeirut

I had a similar experience. I did do the mammo despite the pain after surgeries (lumpectomies) and radiation, and it showed "something." As a result, they did an MRI, that again showed "something." The docs decided to give it 6 months and re-do the MRI (just like you might do on the first "suspicious" mammo). The 6 month follow-up MRI showed no change to the "something" and thus it was determined to be nothing. I, of course, was terrified during the 6 month wait, but I specifically asked the docs, "are you maybe sending me to my death knell during this wait?" and there was a resounding, "NO!" from all of them. Unless you are in advanced stages, 6 months is not going to matter (so they told me), so you might want to either wait awhile and retest, or do the ultrasound and see what that comes up with.

seeknpeace

KimInBeirut said:

I had a similar experience. I did do the mammo despite the pain after surgeries (lumpectomies) and radiation, and it showed "something." As a result, they did an MRI, that again showed "something." The docs decided to give it 6 months and re-do the MRI (just like you might do on the first "suspicious" mammo). The 6 month follow-up MRI showed no change to the "something" and thus it was determined to be nothing. I, of course, was terrified during the 6 month wait, but I specifically asked the docs, "are you maybe sending me to my death knell during this wait?" and there was a resounding, "NO!" from all of them. Unless you are in advanced stages, 6 months is not going to matter (so they told me), so you might want to either wait awhile and retest, or do the ultrasound and see what that comes up with.

Hi Kim...I would be concerned about the 6 mos, I am sorry. When I went in, they told me that I needed to wait 6 mos for them to relook at calcifications. Well, being the anxious person that I am, I insisted on a biopsy with the breast clinic, my doc and my surgeon, all of which told me it was nothing. It was something. I had DCIS, but, it was 2.5 cm and comedo, the most aggressive, with extensive necrosis, meaning that it was ready to spread. Had that cancer come out of that duct, I most likely would have had a much worse outcome. I believe that with all my heart. The kind, amt of dead cells (it is growing too fast to get ample blood to live, it will burst free soon...the more necrosis, the worse), I feel that I may not have survived this. So, if you have any concerns, follow them. I am not meaning to scare you, but, it scares me. Jan