Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Breast Cancer (Expert Forum)
Calcifications
Questions posted in the Breast Cancer Forum are answered by medical professionals from The Cleveland Clinic. Topics include Breast Biopsy, Chemotherapy, Hormone Therapy, Lumps, Lumpectomy, Lymph node dissection, Lymphedema, Mammograms, Mastectomy, Radiation Therapy, Reconstruction, Self Breast Exam, and Surgery.
Calcifications
by lcc1027, Oct 19, 2002 12:00AM
I had a mammo on Thursday. My OBGYN orders a diagnostic, due to my having a "lumpectomy" of a mass about the size of a pea (which was benign) 8 years ago. (My history - mother had a mastectomy at 70, though it was lymphoma - she recovered - and one of her sisters had a mastectomy (carcinoma). Though both are now deceased, neither passed from cancer.) Because of my history I had gotten yearly mammos since I was 33 (I'm soon to be 49), but I had missed the last couple of years somehow. On Thursday, they did the normal screening. I have very dense breast tissue, so a few more were done, mostly on my left. Then the tech came in and said the radiologist wanted magnified films of my left breast (they marked a particular spot). By the time they were done, about 12 or 13 were taken. The tech then said the Dr. wanted to do an ultrasound of my right breast. During that, she found two cysts (in the area of my previous surgery), which she assured me she was not too concerned about, and said she wanted me to set an appt. to follow up again in six months. What surprised me was when she said that she had found "calcifications" in my left breast that needed to be biopsied, and that I needed to call my OBGYN in the morning to get a referral. I now have an appt. at a breast care center next Thursday. Since I was unclear what calcifications were, I started doing research, and now I am quite worried. Since I have already had the magnified mammos of that spot, she obviously felt there is something wrong in that cluster. How often do these clusters show malignancy? Am I getting too anxious? Help
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-RN,MSN-rf, Oct 20, 2002 12:00AM
Dear 1cc1027: It is normal for calcifcations to appear throughout breast tissue. However, when they are clustered there is concern that they are developing around an area of concern. Your situation is complicated by the fact that your dense breast tissue makes reading the mammogram very difficult. I suspect that your doctors want to suggest a biopsy to be sure that they are not missing something around these clusters. I don't have actual statistics, but there is a reasonable chance that there is no cancer.
