I had a ductal ca that did not show up on x-ray until it went into the lymph nodes...
I had mammograms starting in Dec. 2005 until Sept 2006 nothing showed up in any type of x-ray...my surgeon kept insisting she could feel a density that should not be there. It finally showed up in Sept. 2006 but the x-ray was too busy and could not get me in for a follow up ultra-sound until Oct...as soon as my Dr. got the report on a Fri I was in Surgery the next Monday afternoon without a biopsy...I had a pet scan after the first surgery it said nothing in the nodes...my surgeon said we needed to be agressive and she wanted to take the nodes I said ok, guess what it was already there. It was Dx as a ductal ca...why did it not show up earlier on the x-ray...I thought they were suppose to.
Georgia in North Carolina
Georgia, not every cancer shows up on mammography. I have read that as many as 20% of breast tumors don't show up. I don't know if that figure is still accurate with the new digital mammograms, but there are always going to be some tumors that are on the chest wall or somehow in a position that the mammogram can't find. To "see" a tumor the film has to find a mass that is a different density than the rest of the breast. That's one reason that mammography doesn't work as well in younger women who typically have denser breasts. It's impossible to second guess now. It may have been that the cancer would have already reached your lymph nodes even if a biopsy had been done earlier. I had an aggressive cancer that had reached 16 of my lymph nodes by surgery, and my doctors moved as fast as possible from my first symptoms to diagnosis. As you move forward with your health care, I'm sure you've learned some tricks about dealing with the system, and you'll be able to use your previous experience to push for early testing if you need it in the future.
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Georgia Ivie
Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 12:33 PM
Phyllis Johnson
Saturday, August 22, 2009 at 01:28 PM
Georgia, I'm not an expert on imaging techniques. It is my understanding that a breast MRI is often a good test to do for younger women with dense breasts, but that it has the down side of more false positives than mammograms. I think most surgeons like to get images from more than one method and then compare them. If there is only one breast MRI in NC where we have three comprehensive cancer centers plus excellent medical facilities in other parts of the state, then access must be a huge issue when an MRI is the test of choice.
Is an MRI the most effective way to view the breast for tumors? Also, for anyone out there who does not realize it, Auora Imaging now makes an MRI that is dedicated for the breast only...we only have one in the entire state of NC and that is in Winston-Salem. Georgia