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Breast Biopsy - normal tissue but suspect lump

Gistaline
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Hi, 

Just wondering if anyone can make sense of this...

I found a large lump (3cm x 2cm) in my left breast just before Christmas. Had fibroadenomas in the past benign so wasn't unduly worried but hadn't gone down within 4 weeks so rang for a GP appt scheduled 4 weeks later. 

Put me on the 2 week pathway and 2 weeks ago went to clinic. First doc said it felt like a cyst, had a mammogram which shows a circular white blob. Ultrasonographer said yes probably a cyst but let's have a look maybe do a biopsy. In the end I had 3 core biopsies in each breast due to thickening in right and left because at 47 I am too old to be growing a new FA.

Back into see the doc and he takes me to the consultant who said it all looks sinister and the macmillan nurse is in there, told I will come back in two weeks and take it from there. The only good news is that the lymph nodes are clear, 

Been back today for results, apparently the consultant surgeon and ultrasonographer both say the lump looks like a cancerous lump, it's too big, it's not the right shape, this is how cancers behave coming from nowhere etc. But the biopsies all say normal breast tissue, not inconclusive, not borderline, not sinister - just normal. But because it looks like cancer now the Consultant US is going to repeat the biopsy because the original ultrasonographer must have missed it.

My head is mashed. They have redone the biopsy today (3 or 4 more) and I am to go back next week to know the type and stage of cancer. It will take a week longer to know what feeds it which will determine treatment. I am having a CT scan done on Thursday this week. 

Can anyone make any sense of it? It is possible to miss a 3 x 2cm lump 3 times? If it helps on the US it's like a little mushroom cloud cluster with the centre being quite round and black and it's surrounded with like cloudy floaty bits that are lightish in colour. Sorry but I was watching very closely to make sure the needle hit this time. 

Thanks all for listening and if anyone has had a similar experience it would be great to hear from you.

Gis 

 

  • Offline

    Hi,

    That sounds really difficult to handle and I'm so sorry you are in this situation.

    I don't know much, but from what I know about soft tissue masses and ultrasound, cysts do look black on U/S. It's because they only contain fluid so they don't have any internal echoes (fluid doesn't reflect sound waves, or something), meaning it's just like a black space on the screen.

    The lighter bits around it might have been the surrounding tissue, and the middle being the round cyst or whatever it is. 

    I wonder what it is about it that's making them think it's likely to be malignant. Also I don't think fibroadenomas are black on ultrasound, they tend to have internal echoes so lightish bits inside the lump, if that makes sense - do a Google image search and you will see what I mean.

    Sorry I'm not more help but it all sounds really confusing, I'm just sorry it's happening to you. Hopefully all will become clear soon and I really hope it is good news.

    AK x

    By the way it is possible for a biopsy to pick up the wrong part of a lump, meaning the sample inside the needle is OK but there is another part of the lump that isn't. That's the only thing I can think of, though I'd have thought they would have managed to get a hit with three attempts, if there was anything to find! Missing the actual lump seems very unlikely.

  • Offline in reply to Anon.K

    Hi Angie, 

    Thanks for replying, Google is fab for searching! My mammo looks like a cyst - perfect white blob. 

    The US is harder, because it looks like a cyst to me too so I don't know what they are seeing and I get they might not have gone deep enough into it then - I am proper ouching she went that deep and twisted today so they have got to have got enough sample now at least. 

    Gis x

     

  • Offline in reply to Gistaline

    Crikey that sounds painful. It just seems really odd to me that they are insisting it must be cancer if the biopsies were all negative. Usually that's much more reliable an indicator than anything they can see on a screen.

    Well I hope it gets sorted out. Will be thinking of you x

  • Offline in reply to Anon.K

    Thank you, I will come back on Monday and let you know x

  • Offline in reply to Gistaline

    So stage 3 invasive ductal cancer not specifc type triple negative. 

    I have an appointment with the oncologist on the 13th March and then 6 months of chemo, followed by surgery and possibly radio but I am more inclined to have a mastectomy.

    Thankfully they were persistent with me.

    G x

     

  • Offline in reply to Gistaline

    So there is nothing worse than someone not updating their posts and wondering what happened  next?

    Well I had a 4cm Triple negative invasive ductal tumour removed on 31st March along with my breast. As 1/5 lymph nodes showed cancer and I had lymphovascular invasion I went on to have chemo in May. I had 8/12 paclitaxel which was stopped due to neuropathy, and had 1/4 EC and was very sick so decided to discontinue as I was so breathless. Oncology ordered a scan to check for a blood clot. I'd had a follow up scan 3 weeks earlier from my original CT to check lung nodules and there was no evidence of disease. The scan to check for the blood clot however showed no blood clot but 3 enlarged lymph nodes and an infiltration into the chest wall.

    My oncologist refers to me as an unfortunate lady whose cancer progressed through chemo. I didn't have the cell that would have meant immunotherapy would be suitable, tumours are near the neurovascular bundle so not suitable for surgery. I'm done with chemo and I'm not going to try radiotherapy as its not curable and I am done chasing treatments. 

    So in August my prognosis was 6-12 months. 

    It is now December and I am doing okay, pain is being managed and I am doing as much as I can.  2020 has been a whirlwind for everyone but for those of us with cancer wow! I gave it my best shot and I put up a fight but cancer can be a tricky beggar. 

     

     

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