Expert: Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, M.D. - 12/10/2008

Question
i am 48 years old married with 2 kids and no history of any type of cancer i my family. I skkiped mamogrm last year and I did it last week. My radiolosit saw unclear spot andI am going to have a second oe plus ultrasound. i am scared to have cancer any suggestion? I never experienced any pain and even my doctorcould not detect any abnormalities during my physical check uponly one day before my 1st mammogram.

Answer
Pain is a very rare symptom in early breast cancers so that is not a useful symptom! Also physical examinations do find breast tumors MUCH later (and therefore bigger) than what mammography does. Most cancers grow fairly slowly. That is why it is a good idea to check breasts by mammography about once per year. Obviously what has been found is yet unclear. So this is not - at least not yet - any sure sign of a cancer, but of course it is not possible either for me to promise that it is not a cancer. It is a good idea to combine mammography with ultrasound breast scans. Even better if also MRI breast scans are included! Insist on that! These different examinations use different examination principles so if they are combined a lot more information is gained which promotes the possibilities of a diagnosis. if in spite of that this lesion remaines unclear I do recommend that you insist on at least a needle biopsy of your lesion. And please do not skip mammographies! Good luck!