Neg. Mammom 4mths ago..

Dear Dr.

I had a routine breast exam and mammogram in Feb/09, everything was negative except for very dense breast which I have always had.  4 months later in June I felt a very hard lump on the 11:00 position of my right breast that was not at all painfull compared to the rest of my breast (I have always had painful breast/cystic, which was normal for me).  The Dr. sent me for an ultrasound and today they called and want to schedule me for a biopsy due to a nodule that measures 1+cm.  My question is, this hard nodule was not present 4 months ago and so what type of nodule usually grows that fast and can they detect cancer on a sonogram?  In other words, why do they want to biopsy it could they have seen something?  Is fatty tissue hard feeling or soft feeling? Is fibrous tissue hard feeling? Couldn't they tell a fibrous mass from a suspicious mass?  I had a kidney removed that they swore was cancer and turned out to be angiomylipoma now I have another lesion in my left kidney, point is, they removed my whole kidney for a benigh tumor-I don't want to go through the same thing for my breast.  I appreciate your answering me and so sorry for the long questions.  Thank you kindly and be well.

Sincerely,
Christine

[Cleveland Clinic]

Dear Christina:  The problem with dense breast tissue is that it can make mammography difficult to read and interpret.  That you have felt a new lump is reason for investigation.  A lump that is hard is unlikely to be fatty.  There are several possible diagnoses that could present rapidly as you describe - and cancer is one of them.  The only way to know what this particular lump is - is to biopsy.  At least, where the breast is concerned, the standard is to biopsy to determine pathology rather than removind the breast.

[healthcheck]

Addendum,

I am 51 and presently in the middle of menopause, could menopause affect the breast?

[healthcheck]

Thank you for responding so quickly.
Could a fibrous mass present within 4 months?  That's what I'm hoping for.
Again, thank you for your quick response.  This will be my last question.

Sincerely,
Christine