What % of women with ADH contract breast cancer

Posted by bd2486 @bd2486, Jul 19, 2023

Diagnosis of ADH, non cancerous, after core needle biopsy and MRI and recommendation to get surgical removal of lesion. Anyone elect to monitor with regular mammograms and preventative strategies instead?
78 yr old with health related issues - BP, a-fib and heart valve problem

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@debbie2721

I am very sorry you aren't getting the information that you need. There are many of us with ADH. I had a annual mammogram when a radiologist notice very small calcifications. I was sent for additional mammogram, then a stereostatic biopsy, and was sent to a breast surgeon for a lumpectomy. ADH was the diagnosis and no cancer. However, I was sent to an oncologist and put on anastrozole for 5 yrs. I would suggest that you go to a breast cancer surgeon and get a second opinion. I agree that they don't tell you much about ADH. Hopefully you will get some answers here on this forum. Best of luck.

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I am the same as you as far as being sent to a surgeon right after diagnosis of ADH. I am struggling with the idea of having surgery. I was also told I would be having MRI every year and mammograms, and they would be offset from each other by 6 months. I have no plans of taking any meds. The weird thing is - I have had a dimpled area in the same area as the ADH was found, for the past 7 years. The dimpled area has not changed in that time. I suppose that could be a good sign, or it could be bad. The surgeon I was sent to is very talented at surgery and not leaving scars and disfigurement , but he was not the one who decided I needed to have the tissue out in the first place. I guess it was the radiologist- who then expected my primary doctor to explain it. I am sure I should get the Excisional Biopsy. It’s the safe and smart thing to do , to prevent a worse scenario. However I am going to still try and find a good surgeon to do a local with light sedation ( no intubation and no general anesthesia) and I may decide not to go forward if the area has no increase in size. I am looking forward to talking to a doctor with more expertise in ADH. And I am also going to have another pathologist review the slides to make sure that is agreed that the cells are ADH. I am probably going overboard. But I want to be confident in my decision if I go forward with a surgery. I have also wondered if it’s possible to redo the Core needle biopsies, if the area comes back as exactly the same in size.

REPLY

I asked my oncologist about getting another core needle biopsy and he said that it would likely conclude the ADH dx and recommendation for surgical removal. He said that aggressiveness and tumor characteristics are best described by tissue analysis, so my question to him is why not another core needle biopsy after 4-6 mo. rather than rush to surgical removal immediately? After researching the various drugs for prevention, the side effects can be horrendous and many of them I already have and would undoubtedly get worse. So at this point, no surgery and no drugs for me.
Thoughts anyone? I will post the answer I get to my question.

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@bd2486

I asked my oncologist about getting another core needle biopsy and he said that it would likely conclude the ADH dx and recommendation for surgical removal. He said that aggressiveness and tumor characteristics are best described by tissue analysis, so my question to him is why not another core needle biopsy after 4-6 mo. rather than rush to surgical removal immediately? After researching the various drugs for prevention, the side effects can be horrendous and many of them I already have and would undoubtedly get worse. So at this point, no surgery and no drugs for me.
Thoughts anyone? I will post the answer I get to my question.

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I had the excisional surgery to confirm my diagnosis. So you’re wanting to just watch it via CNB to see if it grow/changes? I’m not keen on any of these AI drugs too many bad side effects

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@nikkibluejay

I am the same as you as far as being sent to a surgeon right after diagnosis of ADH. I am struggling with the idea of having surgery. I was also told I would be having MRI every year and mammograms, and they would be offset from each other by 6 months. I have no plans of taking any meds. The weird thing is - I have had a dimpled area in the same area as the ADH was found, for the past 7 years. The dimpled area has not changed in that time. I suppose that could be a good sign, or it could be bad. The surgeon I was sent to is very talented at surgery and not leaving scars and disfigurement , but he was not the one who decided I needed to have the tissue out in the first place. I guess it was the radiologist- who then expected my primary doctor to explain it. I am sure I should get the Excisional Biopsy. It’s the safe and smart thing to do , to prevent a worse scenario. However I am going to still try and find a good surgeon to do a local with light sedation ( no intubation and no general anesthesia) and I may decide not to go forward if the area has no increase in size. I am looking forward to talking to a doctor with more expertise in ADH. And I am also going to have another pathologist review the slides to make sure that is agreed that the cells are ADH. I am probably going overboard. But I want to be confident in my decision if I go forward with a surgery. I have also wondered if it’s possible to redo the Core needle biopsies, if the area comes back as exactly the same in size.

Jump to this post

It sounds as if you have a good plan and seem confident in your decision.
Seeking a second opinion would be a good idea. I hope everything goes well.

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@elliejk

I had the excisional surgery to confirm my diagnosis. So you’re wanting to just watch it via CNB to see if it grow/changes? I’m not keen on any of these AI drugs too many bad side effects

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Yes, but I just got an answer from my oncologist who said another CNB would only REconfirm the indication I already have, that is, precancerous and needs to be Surgically removed by excisional biopsy and would not show progression or aggressiveness. So my next question is - wouldn’t it produce a different marker if I detect any changes myself or by mammogram?
I’ll post any response.

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@bd2486

Yes, but I just got an answer from my oncologist who said another CNB would only REconfirm the indication I already have, that is, precancerous and needs to be Surgically removed by excisional biopsy and would not show progression or aggressiveness. So my next question is - wouldn’t it produce a different marker if I detect any changes myself or by mammogram?
I’ll post any response.

Jump to this post

My Dr told me they wanted it out to be sure there wasn’t any cancer present/lurking. She said ADH upgrade upon excision is around 20%

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