BIRADS 4 and percentages...

[lsilver212]

mammogram indicated a 5mm cluster of indeterminate microcalcifications in the upper-outer quadrant of left breast, and was assigned BIRADS 4.  i will be having a stereotactic guided vacuum assisted biopsy.  everyone keeps saying the possibility this is cancer is less than 30%.  is that true?  and has anyone undergone this biopsy?  the concept of a forty-minute mammogram plus needle has me terrified.

[Cheerpul]

Everyone in this forum has undergone biopsies and more.  The results of the biopsy will tell you what is going on in your breast and help you determine what action(s) you should take.  Try not to let the thought of the procedure terrify you.  Usually you suffer more thinking about it than you actually do in having the procedure.  I haven't had this exact procedure, but have had a surgical biopsy that had stereotactic markers put in place, and just had my second mastectomy last Thursday.  None of these procedures was hard for me to undergo and recovery was quick.

I don't know what percentage chance it is cancer, due to many variables.  Whatever is in your breast is there.  The biopsy will identify it and then you will want to ask your doctors and nurses  (and us) everything that you need to know to understand your situation and make informed choices of treatment options.  Try to focus on finding out more information and deciding on the next step and that will help you get through the waiting-for-your-results stage, which for me was the hardest part.  You are far stronger than you know and I hope that you come back on this thread and tell us the the results were something minor.  If they indicate something more serious, most of us have had that, too, and are here to help you however we can.  In the meantime, take a deep breath, focus on the facts that you know and don't let the "what-ifs" sap your strength and energy.  Each test will tell you more facts that give you a better picture of what's going on.  Please feel free to reply to this thread or send me a note.  I am with you and will be thinking of you.

[zouzi]

Hi,
A BI-RADS score 4,is not characteristic of breast cancer, but reasonable probability of being malignant (3 to 94%).The percentage depends if you have a strong family history of breast cancer(mother sister)
If you don't have a family history,then the percentage could be quite high that your biopsy will return a benign finding.

I have added a link for you,just  to give you some more information about the kind of biopsy you'll be having and I hope it will be helpful.

http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=breastbixr

I personally think that the more informed we are,the better we feel when we are facing this kind of procedures.
Many women who have posted in this forum have informed us that although a biopsy is somewhat uncomfortable it wasn't really that painful.
I truly wish you for a Benign results and an uneventful biopsy.
Sending you my best wishes...