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.

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

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

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

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.