Stereotactic Core Biopsy

Last week I went for a mammogram, after they did the test, they called me back to do an additional 2 more. They then said that I needed to have a Ultrasound. The radiologist did an ultrasound of my left breast,which showed numerous cysts and had to show the doctor the results. The Dr. came in and started to ultrasound the breast again while explaining I had the cysts in the left breast and a cluster in the right (they didn't do an ultrasound of the right breast). She said that she couldn't say to me "yes you have cancer by looking at the mammogram" and she talked about doing a Stereotactic Core Biopsy, explaining the procedure. She then told me that she was sorry to be the bearer of bad news on a Friday! This has me really worried, what did she mean by this? It makes me feel like by seeing what she did on the mammogram that she thinks I may have cancer. I have lost my Grandfather, uncle & brother to cancer so this is quite frightening. I didn't think of questions to ask at the time, but what is the difference of having "CYSTS" or having a "CLUSTER"? I had cysts in left breast a few years ago & the Dr. poked a needle through to pop them. The Dr. never said anything about the left breast, are the cysts nothing to worry about? I do have pain in that breast and she told me to take 800IU of vitaminE. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, maybe ease my fears! Thank you.

[CCF-RN,MSN-JS]

Dear LLG, An ultrasound is used to try to differentiate between a fluid-filled cyst and a solid structure.  If the cyst shows up on the ultrasound that can explain the findings on the mammogram that may be all that needs to be done unless the cyst is causing problems such as pain, or they decide to remove fluid to check it for cancer cells, or infection.  On mammograms microcalcifications can show up that have a suspicious look to them that needs to be checked further.  As we age we can have these calcium deposits happen naturally, however, if they are clustered in a defined area on the mammogram the question is what are they clustered around.  They could be clustered because of a benign (non-cancerous) cause, but until we actually take a sample of the tissue in the area are we able to know for sure.  A stereotactic biopsy is done using x-ray's taken from different angles and a computer generating a picture of the cluster of calcifications, so the biopsy is obtained from the area of concern, reducing the chance of "missing" an abnormality, thus having more certainty if the results come back normal that whatever may have caused the cluster of microcalcifications is benign.