birad 4/surgical biopsy

Had routine mammo in Jan when microcalcifications were noticed - birad 3 - instructed to come back in 6 mos for a fu mammo - had one last week with spot imaging - now have clustered microcalcifactions (I have very dense breast tissue with a birad rating of 4 - instructed to have a stereo biopsy done - however, attempt was unsuccessful - am now having a surgical biopsy next week - breast surgeon told me there is reason for concern but not to worry (yeah right)- she told me a 30-40% chance of malignancy - what canI expect based on the information provided....

[CCF-RN,MSN-JS]

Dear lesie, A birad rating of 4 means there is a suspicious area that should be evaluated further.  We couldn't say whether this is cancerous or not only based on a mammogram result, the biopsy to look at the tissue under the microscope will be what answers the question.

[lop]

I had a similar experience in March when I went in for my routine mammogram.  After that and an ultrasound, they found a mass with microcalcifications within the mass.  birad 4.  I was told that it didn't look good and that there was reason to worry.  I had an open biopsy two days later and everything turned out benign - fibroadenoma and atypical lobular hyperplasia.  Even my surgeon told me I beat the odds - that's how bad it looked.  So, try not to worry because even when it looks the worst, it can turn out okay.  I hope everything works out for you!!!

[river view]

Please let us know how it turns out for you.  I'm in a similar situation as you.  Good luck!

[ritavv]

I previously had stage 1 invasive cancer.   In June my mammogram came back with concern about calcifications in both breasts... birads 4.  They attempted stereotactic needle biopsy on both but were successful with only one.  That one came back BENIGN!  I'm now discussing excisional biopsy on the other.  Because these calcifications are at my lumpectomy site, my oncologist feels these are benign also.