terrified of possibility of cancer

[gqmom]

I just had a mammo and ultrasound yesterday for left sided breast pain.  The mammo showed some dense areas in the outer quadrant and there is a solid mass about 1cm that has some irregular borders and it slightly "tall".  I am going for a core biopsy in four days and I am terrified that this could be cancer.  I am 33 with two children.  Is there any possibility of it being something benign?  Please help!

[gqmom]

Oops!  Thanks, I didn't see that!  :)

[ncmichigan]

If I had to guess, I'd agree with zouzi that the mass could very well be a firbroadenoma.
I've had two of them removed in the last six years and it isn't nearly as terrible as we let ourselves think. Any changes in your breasts are reason for concern, but "concern" shouldn't mean "panic". Of course, that's easier said than done but it's important not to jump ahead and think the worst. I think most of us here try to emphasize that statistically most biopsies end up with benign results. We try to encourage everyone who is going through the various biopsy procedures to remain hopeful. Even the small percentage who end up with breast cancer diagnoses have every reason to be hopeful. Most are caught at an early stage and are highly treatable. The important thing is to be vigilant, get screened and follow through on the recommendations if something unusual is found. It is so much easier to deal with "what is" than to worry about "what ifs". Overall, the wait for the results of the biopsy has been the hardest for most of the women here (including me!) but that's the only way to be 100% sure what is going on.
This web site from the American Cancer Society has many answers to your question of could it possibly be benign:

http://www.cancer.org/Healthy/FindCancerEarly/WomensHealth/Non-CancerousBreastConditions/index

I hope this is helpful to you and calms your fears at least a little bit. Like zouzi, I'm wishing you an easy biopsy and benign results. Sending you a big hug (   ),
nc

[zouzi]

Hi,
Please try not to panic,first of all because pain is almost never associated with breast cancer.Second,.it's not unusual at all that a solid lump needs to be  biopsied for an accurate diagnosis.What you have, could be a Fibroadenoma which is the most common solid benign lump ,but the only way to be absolutely sure that a nodule is a fibroadenoma, is by some form of biopsy. Fibroadenomas are round or oval and the edges are very smooth,but some could present with irregular borders too.
If, by" irregular borders", it's meant that it's lobulated (like a cluster of grapes) that's not too unusual either.But if the edges look "fuzzy" that's not typical and some kind of further investigation is indicated.
I won't say not to worry,because we women tend to do just that when something is discovered in our breasts.However,I think that it's much better to know what it's going on and have it treated or monitored, than not knowing and worrying about it.Keep in mind that most of the time,lumps that are biopsied return a benign finding and I sure hope that it will be the same for you too.
Please let us know how things are proceeding,in the meantime I am sending you my best wishes for a favorable outcome...