Detecting cancer in women with dense breasts: MRI?

@bd2486 in my humble opinion, you are doing all the right things. You are extremely proactive with your health. That is what it takes. Stay strong my friend & blessings to you. Positive vibes and prayers going out to you. Please pop back in when you know more. 🙏🏼

Thank you for your encouraging words.
2nd opinion tomorrow and I will post with results.

I had lump in January Mammogram 3D did not detect mine, I requested ultrasound 4 months later because it started feeling funny on the inside like it was reminding me it was there....the ultrasound picked it up they put a sticker on it and did another mammogram 3D and it still didn't show....the Mri picked up a second tumor right next to original....had left breast mastectomy June 15 and they were 2 different types....both estrogen and progesterone positive but 1 was her2 negative and the other was her2 positive... I guess I've never done anything the easy way....but boy was that frustrating....I see my oncologist the 13 to discuss treatment....good luck to you all

I am in total agreement. I have a yearly MRS and yearly mammogram. Yet I always worry about what they will find. I appreciate all the comments, but wonder why we should have to pay for them to do their jobs and to keep us healthy. No other civilized country has to pay for health care.

Every time I have a mammogram, I'm told I have "extremely dense" breasts so I have requested that I get an ultrasound the same day so I can get them done in one visit. This year, however, the mammogram saw some "suspicious" calcifications amidst all of the normal ones. I had no palpable lump or other symptoms. Additional views and biopsy revealed that this suspicious area was indeed malignant and I will have a mastectomy in a couple of weeks. I'm sharing this to encourage other women to get the regular mammogram and to know that it is still useful for us "dense" people. I am grateful to have had nurses and a radiologist who were skilled and attentive.

I’m wondering if there is lumps with bi-rads 3 ? Can I possibly request a mri?

There was some conversation about bi-rads 3 on another discussion and the statement probably benign. That being said, if there is a palpable lump, I would think you should be able to request something more diagnostic.
I can’t tell you what you should do, you and your doctor will be able to decide what is best for you. In my case the lump felt as such to my doctor to want to look further and eventually decided to cut it out and get it to the lab.
Do you have a personal history of breast cancer or family history, this could weigh the equation?

I had the same experience. Any time you have dense breasts please fight for a lot of imaging. I just had my second primary breast cancer in 4 years. I believe that 4 years ago I already had the second cancer but they could not see it clearly because I had dense breasts.
I really did not want to go to the dermatologists today after just getting over my second bout of breast cancer in 4 years but I forced myself. She took a look at the area on my face and immediately thought that it was
a basal cell carcinoma. She took the biopsy and I will find out in a couple of weeks what it is. This is so exhausting. Really, could I have yet another cancer? At this point I am just praying that it is just an early basal cell carcinoma and not a breast cancer metastasis that has gone to my face.

Have any of ever heard of a breast cancer metastasizing to your facial skin?

At this point I am so constantly worried.

For dense breasts MRI is the imaging you want! A mammo and ultrasound did NOT pick up 2 fairly large tumors in one breast! Thankfully I had a symptom and I insisted on an MRI. Within 2 hours the radiologist called me to schedule biopsies. Two years and one mastectomy later I alternate every six months between mammo and MRI.

Please fight for additional imaging if you have dense breasts! I had no idea that I lived in a state that mandates insurance coverage for MRI for folks with dense breasts. If I had, I would have lobbied for MRI for years and maybe wouldn’t be going through what I am now (just finished neoadjuvant chemo for 9cm mass and on to surgery next month). This website is very useful, you can click on your state and find out what the laws are regarding imaging: