How young can mammograms be done?

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Rague
Rague Member Posts: 3,653 Member
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Will try to make this make sense. A young woman (21) at a horse forum I go to posted that her Dr. found lumps. She has family history according to her. She's been told that she's too young for a mammagram. She has an appointment for a sonogram but was told she was too young for a mammagram. I can understand taht perhaps too young for starting routine mammagrams but when a mass has been detected by a Dr. ?

YES I did tell her about this site - rather she comes or not I don't know. I'm hoiping she will come so don't want to say too much about what she has posted there.

BUT Why can' mammagrams be done on a 21 y/o?

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  • TawnyS
    TawnyS Member Posts: 144 Member
    #2
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    All I know about this is
    All I know about this is that my breast surgeon told me that a daughter of a woman diagnosed with breast cancer should begin having mammos 10 years prior to the mother's diagnosis. Therefore, my daughter should be able to receive a mammo when she is 23. I would assume that she would not have told me that unless a 23 year old could not have a mammo. I also have heard of women as young as 17 having breast cancer. I am curious if just an ultrasound was initially done then a mammo? If you have boobies why not be able to get a mammo. I hope someone posts that knows more about this.
  • Marcia527
    Marcia527 Member Posts: 2,729
    #3
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    I think when they say
    I think when they say 'you're too young' they mean you don't need it because breast cancer usually occurs over 50. Insurance won't pay if too young. They really need to change this because it is occuring younger and younger. But they assume it's something else if you are young. It seems if you have a lump they should check it out but people have posted that they were told to just watch it and check it later.
  • m-star
    m-star Member Posts: 441
    #4
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    Marcia527 said:

    I think when they say
    I think when they say 'you're too young' they mean you don't need it because breast cancer usually occurs over 50. Insurance won't pay if too young. They really need to change this because it is occuring younger and younger. But they assume it's something else if you are young. It seems if you have a lump they should check it out but people have posted that they were told to just watch it and check it later.

    i started getting my mammo's
    i started getting my mammo's aged 29. The only trouble is, when you are younger, the breast tissue is more dense, therefore a mammogram isn't always the best single option for young women or women with dense breast tissue in general.
    At this age, mammo's are usually accompanied by MRI+Contrast scans and even ultrasound. That is what i have had annually for the last 7 years.

    My biological mother got BC aged 37 but i only got my annual screening after they found out the mantle rads they gave me for HL now puts me at high risk of BC.
  • TraciInLA
    TraciInLA Member Posts: 1,994 Member
    #5
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    m-star said:

    i started getting my mammo's
    i started getting my mammo's aged 29. The only trouble is, when you are younger, the breast tissue is more dense, therefore a mammogram isn't always the best single option for young women or women with dense breast tissue in general.
    At this age, mammo's are usually accompanied by MRI+Contrast scans and even ultrasound. That is what i have had annually for the last 7 years.

    My biological mother got BC aged 37 but i only got my annual screening after they found out the mantle rads they gave me for HL now puts me at high risk of BC.

    Dense breast tissue
    M-Star hit it -- the younger you are, the denser your breast tissue is, even more so if you've never had and/or nursed a baby.

    My gynecologist described doing mammograms on dense breasts as "like trying to find a polar bear in a snowstorm" (I think she stole that from Dr. Susan Love -- I've heard her say the same thing.).

    Traci

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