Has anyone had MRI suspicious for malignancy but negative Mammo + US?

Thanks again for your wise & kind advice, Chris! I'll check with my doctor on PET scan.

My surgical Oncologist ordered an US to investigate further on my liver upon reading this MRI on my breasts' report. I am waiting for it.

Your loving kindness with wisdom is highly appreciated, Chris! God bless your loving heart!

Welcome, @ldrutter. I moved your question to this existing discussion so you can connect with others like @gardenfairy @auntieoakley @pinkdaisy @kstar077 and more:
- Has anyone had MRI suspicious for malignancy but negative Mammo + US? https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/has-anyone-had-mri-suspicious-for-malignancy-but-negative-mammo-us/

I just want to make sure I got your story right. You have not been diagnosed with breast cancer. While the first MRI seemed to indicate that there were suspicious areas that had characteristics of possible cancer. Now, 6 months later you will be going for a follow-up MRI. Understandably, you're concerned that the results might show potential cancer and you wonder if you've got lost time. Did I get that right?
When is your MRI?

Hello! I had a routine mammogram in April 2023. A small lesion was seen and biopsied, which came back as Fibroadenoma. Unfortunately, I received a phone call from the doctor who did the biopsy stating she thinks the wrong nodule was biopsied. This was very shocking, because I was only told of one. Then we decided on a MRI. The MRI was done and the next day my PCP called me in her office to go over the MRI report, which was given BI-RADS 4 score. It had all the characteristics of cancer….washout, hypo-echoic, rapid light up, etc. So then, another biopsy was done on another “lesion”, which came back as another Fibroadenoma. My lymph nodes on the left side were also “fluffy” according to the radiologist, but looked “fine” on US, therefore they were not biopsied. I go back 12/22 for my 6 month MRI f/u.

I had the same thing happen. The US did show a lesion which was biopsied, and came back negative. My US shown nothing that the MRI shown. The MRI was very thorough.

Hi! Chris and comrades of the war of beating cancers:

Thanks again for your wise and kind advices!

I am still waiting for UltraSound to be done to find out more information of the lesion in my liver; however, I started to wondering about how much detailed info can US reveal - regarding the real characteristics of that lesion. Will the US be able to tell us whether that lesion in my liver is breast cancer in the liver or something else entirely? Will they / should they put me through another Biopsy to find out the real DNA of that lesion in my liver?

Thanks for any experienced advices! My heart goes out to you all!

That’s exactly what happened to me! I’d been having regular mammograms and sometimes an ultrasound for several decades. Then I started seeing small changes in my left breast that over time became more obvious. . The PA looked at it and immediately ordered another mammogram and an ultrasound. At that appointment the radiologist told me I have dense breasts and he was going to recommend something he does only about once a year- refer me for a MRI.

Turns out my left breast was so full of invasive lobular cancer they couldn’t even do sure for 6 months!

Lobular cancer can be very tricky! More often than not, it’s stage 3 or 4 when it’s found because lobular cancer hides in the density of the breast. The medical community has let women down on this one. It’s a very slow growing cancer. Yet, here I am at 72, with no breasts and incurable cancer because the nodal involvement is severe. They cannot cure this cancer because of that. It’s most often “too little, too late.

The greedy insurance companies don’t want to pay for MRIs so doctors don’t recommend them as often as they should! If my radiologist recommends an MRI just once a year, how many more people didn’t get referred for one that should have! How many have died because the insurance company doesn’t want to pay for it. Let that sink in because it’s infuriating once you know the culprit.

Sadly my experience comes from too much history with cancer in my family. When my brothers lesion in his liver first showed up they looked with ultrasound immediately to rule out a distortion in the MRI or things that were obviously not cancer. Then did a PET/CT to decide it was yes, metastatic cancer in the liver. When they did the PET, all the different tumors lit right up like a Roman candle. Our doctor shows us the scans. This has been true with my husbands bone cancer, and my breast cancer as well. I have been told PET is pretty definitive for cancer but since they are really freakin expensive, they have to jump through a few hoops before they can get it approved. I won’t rant about insurance companies here, I will save that for the comfort of my own home, but I believe that is why they use ultrasound to rule out the obvious first. @mjwhearts22 pretty much summed up the risk of not knowing.
When is your ultrasound scheduled? Do you have a medical oncology appointment yet?

Thank you so much for sharing your personal experience to help me, Chris! The memories of these heart-wrenching situations must be so painful to endure! I am so, so very sorry to cause you pain:((

My ultrasound has been scheduled next week, so is my next appointment with my surgical oncologist. My heart goes out to you, for you suffer yourself to show me the way of my journey ahead!

What a courageous lady with a kind heart that you truly are! Thanks again!

There are so many stories of cancer detection and cancer disappointments! Few are happy. I feel gratitude for the care I’ve received, though, because of the difficultly of getting the right imaging in order to get a real diagnosis, that care could do only so much. Because doing the right thing for women with dense breasts is not what’s being done in our medical communities. I’m trying to live with lobular breast cancer, for which there is no cure at this point, because no additional imaging is called for! My cancer was absolutely avoidable had radiologists insisted on MRIs in years past. I was a C category of density, not even a D category and yet, I was beyond help when I was diagnosed! What’s wrong with this? Everything!

My heart goes out to you, my spirit aches for you all, my brave comrades of fighting the disease of cancer!

For I, too, am a person borned with breasts of extreme density, I really feel your pain... We stride on with the unconditional supports of our comrades in spirit!