Are ultrasounds enough to catch breast cancer

Hello,

I am a 25 yr old woman in UK and I have had three scans for different breast lumps since I was 19. Only had an ultrasound each time and it always came back fine.

I found a new lump this month (always same breast) and have another ultrasound booked this week.

My question is - if ultrasound is clear am I safe? Or should I insist on an MRI or something? I found scary stories online of ultrasound missing cancer but all seemed to be in the US ...

I am very anxious and afraid :( any answers appreciated.

Thank you so much,

Amy

  • I just saw your lovely message Jolamine and wanted to say thank you. I prodded the lump so much it went pink and is now bruising and that discolouration panicked me but I’m recognising now that my problem is healthy anxiety. I’m really grateful for the kind and patient people on this forum and you’re all in my heart xx

  •  

    Hi AmyErin,

    Many of us have difficulty in leaving a lump alone once we find it. The bruising will gradually disappear. It is not so bad when you can recognize that you have a problem with health anxiety. 

    I am sure that the advice given to you by the radiologist is correct and, if there had been any doubt at all, you would have been given further tests.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine xx

  • Hi lovely,

     

    how big is your lump can I ask? I had a 2.5cm pronounced lump scanned 2 months ago by ultrasound and they just said it was normal breast tissue BUT it feels soooo big, and as I only have little breasts I feel it constantly so I don't understand how this can be just breast tissue? My anxiety is crippling and I just wish they would remove it 

     

    hope you're well

     

    Kirsty

  • Hi, I had breast cancer 20 years ago. I had mammogram every 3 years and last time was 2019. Then I found a lump in the same breast 2 months ago. I went to breast clinic and they did a mammogram and ultrasound both negative. Then they did biopsy and it showed it is cancer. So none ot mammogram and ultrasound are correct. You can ask for biopsy and it will show if is positive or negative.

  •  

    Hi Roya, 

    A very warm welcome to our forum. I am sorry to hear that your breast cancer was not picked up by mammogram or ultrasound. I am not a doctor, but I understand that there are some types of breast cancer which are less likely to show up this way. I have a rare form - Pure Mucinous Breast Cancer and, this was not identified by mammogram either. I have had 2 bouts of this and detected both of these myself, by finding a lump when I was showering.

    This does not mean that none of the scans are correct - just that a few still slip through the net. I hope that you are doing well now. Please keep in touch and let us knowhow you are getting on. We are always here for you.

    Kind regards,
    Jolamine xx

     

  • Thanks for your kind message. I am going to have operation in one week. I still don't know what treatment I would have after operation.

    I will keep in touch.

    Thanks

    Roya

  •  

    Hi Roya,

    I'm glad to hear that you don't have too long to wait for your operation. Any tissue removed during your operation will be sent to pathology and, any further treatment will depend upon these findings.

    I sincerely hope that all goes well for you.

    Kind regards,

    Jolamine xx

  • Hi,

    Thank you for your kind message.

    Roya

  • The reality is >31% of breast cancers are missed by mammograms and ultrasound, We now have 2 readers because of missed cancers however, it still happens, Recently I had one radiologist state It's all normal, I will just get this signed off and you can go home, sadly that was a repeat of what happened last year and I knew in my heart I had cancer due to family history but that single male radiologist was happy to declare it normal. His boss came in and she read and took 5 times longer than he did then asked me if she could perform a biopsy. I knew then she found something of interest that he had missed and was missed a year earlier. Sloppy lazy medicine has been encouraged during COVID across all diagnosis areas in the NHS, Deaths have occurred and people have had to face worse treatment because of these inept lazy medics. If you feel you need additional treatment tell them you want a second opinion. There are some (usually male ) radiologists that are crap and declare safe what is not. Mine is breast cancer, so my advice is to get it tested by biopsy because it is you that will suffer in the long term if a lazy inept useless medic declares it clear when it is not! Sorry, but facts need to be stated about this ! People need to understand 4700 patients die annually due to sloppy NHS treatment, don't allow yourself to become another one of them. SUE THEM, maybe then they will leran to be the medics they profess to be!

  • Hi 

     

    So I'm writing this at 3am whilst lying in bed at hospital just had my ovaries and tubes out ... 

    What I'm about to tell you is not to scare anyone but make sure you have confidence to challenge doctors and follow your gut instant. 

     

    I was diagnosed I Aug 2020 at aged 38 with a 11cm breast cancer in left breast , I have had 8 rounds of chemo , breast fully removed , week of radiotherapy,  heceptain , 14 rounds (half way through) of kadclya and now ovaries and tubes out . 

    I went to the breast clinic nearly every year for about 8 years with a lump , told all OK every time. I then went to gp at least 8 or 9 times from 2018 to 2020 with same issues and fatigue which tried to say i was depressed and bleeding nipple , dent round nipple.

     

    Because all scans and esp one in 2019 had all come back clear no biopsy was offered . I went back to gp 12 days after having clear scan with bleeding nipple but told because scan was clear it was prob just a cyst! I also explained that i was sleeping from shift to shift which is not me and highly unusual... none of that was written down in my gp notes .

     

    Finally in Aug 2020 a gp took me serious and looked at my history and sent me back to the breast clinic where after i weeks of every test and scan I was confirmed stage 3 grade 3 breast cancer ...

     

    I was very lucky that it was not in any of lymph nodes or spead but it was 11cm in size which was my size of my boob. 

     

    I was told I was exhausted because I was a single mom , I worked shifts,  the bleeding nipple was a burst cyst under the lump. By my GPS!

     

    I have asked the question how many times does a person have to go to a breast clinic before a biopsy is done ? No answer of yet and equally all through my treatment I am told by many medical staff that young women have dense breast tissue so its harder to be seen on scans and def mammograms.  

     

    So if you are having any doubts stand by your gut and request a biopsy of the lump... as soon as they did a biopsy of my lump pre cancer cells was found so I had another a cancer cells were found.... 

     

    It could save your life , again not to scare but to educate xx