Highly suspicious for BREAST CANCER

[Anonymous]

I posted about microcalcifications found on my mammo recently. Update - diagnostic mammo and u/s are "highly suspicious", BIRADS 4c. 4c basically means there is approximately a 79% of malignancy. Which, of course, means I could be in the 21% that are benign. I am trying to be optimistic, but I have been having a lot of pain (not related to my cycle) on the suspicious side, I have felt off lately and my eyes have a glassy, sickly appearance. I have scheduled a breast biopsy at four different doctor's offices. Overboard I know, I know. I was looking for the quickest date. I will cancel all but one tomorrow.

I don't want to pull everyone into my mini-panic, so I only told my sister and one close friend of the positive mammo and u/s. The friend dismissed me completely, "I'm sure you're fine." My sister was just silent, she's not so good with the prospect that I might be really ill. I didn't tell her that I picked up my films today and saw the BIRADS rating. And the ladies at the mammo office were giving me "that" voice and one said, "Good luck with everything" while giving me the "look". I'm sure I sound paranoid - reading more into facial expressions and words. I just turned 40 but have had abnormal mammograms before and none of that has ever happened to me.

I don't want to tell anyone else and cause unnecessary worry, so I'm posting here. You guys won't lose any sleep over my issues . I feel some weird relief just typing this out, hopefully in a reasonably coherent way. At least I'm not keeping it all bottled up any more. It would be great if the biopsy is benign and I could get on with life, this is NOT a convenient time for cancer! I'm in the middle of a divorce and that is keeping my plenty occupied, thank you very much. So, universe, if we could put the cancer thing on hold for a while I'd be most appreciative.

[Anonymous]

Please keep us updated. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Love to you. Praying for good results.

[Anonymous]

Breast cancer survivor here. It sounds like if the biopsy is positive, you caught it really early. This is the way its supposed to work. Obviously I can't tell anything from your post -- if it was that easy we wouldn't need mammograms -- but you have every reason to be optimistic here.

By the way, I've had every birad -- yes the perfect flush, 1 through 6 -- and I think birads 4 isn't quite as bad as you're making it sound. I don't think there is a high likelihood of malignancy. My experiences:

birads 1 -- totally fine, what I used to get before breast cancer. And what i got when I actually had breast cancer which delayed my diagnosis, but I digress.

birads 2 -- known benign finding. This is what I get now because of have scar tissue from my lumpectomy. It is my new normal.

birads 3 -- likely benign. This is when they have you come back in 3 or 6 months for a recheck but there is a 95% chance it is benign. I had this once, and it was benign.

birads 4 -- probably a good idea to get a biopsy. I've had a few of those since breast cancer, all benign. I don't think the likelihood of a positive result is as high as you say. I suppose you got that number from somewhere but I think my surgeon told me it was much less likely a chance.

birads 5-- this is the one that is highly likely to be malignant, which is why I quibble with the use of the words "highly suspicious" with birads 4. This is the one that is highly suspicious. I had this once on a breast MRI and was told there was over a 90% likelihood it was malignant. But it was benign!

birads 6 -- known malignancy. My cancer was diagnosed via a biopsy of a lump and I already had the result when my surgeon ordered a mammogram before surgery. Since we knew I had cancer, it was a birads 6.

By the way, I was walking around with a growing malignancy for over a year and felt great. I do not think your sickly, glassy eyed appearance has anything to do with this. And my cancer was diagnosed at a later stage than it sounds like is a possibility for you.

[Anonymous]

OK, I just reread your post and saw birads 4c. I have never seen the c part before. This is a new system (which is weird because I'm constantly getting screened) or maybe specific to your facility?

[Anonymous]

Isn't BIRADS 4 a 20-80% chance? I had that and found this statistic very confusing. My calcifications were benign but the wait was crippling.
All the best OP.

[Anonymous]

will be praying for you. Lots of b.c. in my family.

[Anonymous]

OP here: thanks to everyone for your support, something I truly need right now. 22:25 I am happy to hear you are a survivor! The BIRADS classification of 4c is very different than 4a and 4b and I have read several medically credible sources that give the 79% likelihood of malignancy - not that I want to be right here, okay. One site:

BI-RADS category 4C has quite a high positive predictive value for breast cancer

"BI-RADS category 4 is now broken in to sub-categories A, B, and C. In terms of the positive predictive value for breast cancer, a category 4A mammogram is quite low at 13%, and category 4B also moderately low at about 36%. But when we see a mammogram classefied as 4C, the positive predictive value of breast cancer jumps up to around 79%."

Specifically, my findings are: pleomophic, Irregular and linear calcifications. When it comes to calcifications, these are the worst kind. I think women should have some level of understanding what these terms mean for their health. I encourage everyone to get copies of all labs and reports and read them. Many years ago I had a condition my doctor failed to inform me about. I happened to get a copy of a two year old lab (for another purpose) and happened across these findings. There was a hand written note on the lab paper that the nurse called to inform me, but she NEVER did.

Lastly, pain is in indicator of late stage breast cancer. Again, not saying that I HAVE cancer, but I am trying to prepare myself for the worst and thus far, all indications are not in my favor.

Look, I'm trying to a realist, not an alarmist. Like I mentioned I've been down this road several times with fibrocystic, dense breasts. This is the first time my red flag is raised. I pray you are right and I am fine.

[Anonymous]

You are reading way way too much on the internet. This is 22:52 again, breast cancer survivor. I can see the signs of it in your posts. This is a self-destructive thing to do. I know, I've been there. Educating yourself is fine but you need to get your information from the internet.

Pain is a sign of late stage cancer? First of all, late stage cancer is metastatic, so what they are referring to is pain in the bones, that kind of thing. And if you read about that, you WILL experience it, so don't read about it.

Most women with breast cancer do not experience any pain in their breasts. I did have some discomfort and my cancer was considered early stage.

Be very careful about this whole late stage thing. You are already jumping way ahead of yourself. You may justify it by telling yourself things like you are being realistic and educating yourself, but I keep reading things in your posts that are alarmist and not very realistic.

From what you have written the issue is calcifications, not an actual tumor. You don't have a lump and they aren't seeing a tumor. I know what a tumor looks like on a mammogram, there's no mystery. It sounds like what they are concerned about is DCIS, which is noninvasive cancer that has a 100% survival rate. Some don't even call it cancer.

I have never heard of anyone being diagnosed with cancer based on calcifications on a mammogram alone that had anything beyond either DCIS or early stage 1.

Walk away from the internet. You aren't helping yourself.

[Anonymous]

I meant to say you do not need to get your information from the internet. Get it from a doctor.

All indications are not in favor of cancer. You are lumping together unrelated things. The glassy-eyed thing. for example. You have a suspicious mammogram. That is a concerning indication. That is the only indication. The mammogram shows calcifications, not a tumor. That is a concerning indication of a possible very early stage cancer. There are still very strong odds that it is benign.

Those are the facts. Good luck. I hope it is benign.

[Anonymous]

OP - I am the other person with the pain and the benign calcifications (on the other side from the pain) that has been posting here. I have been searching way too much on the internet as well. I should be getting my report today and I will let you know what the birad number is if I do get it. You do have every reason to think that you are catching something very very early if there is something there. Keep us posted!

[Anonymous]

Yes- I believe cancer stage has more to do with its spread to other areas of the body, not within the same body part.

If I remember correctly, I had a benign biopsy after a "5" assessment on an MRI, too.

I know it's nerve-wracking, but all you can do at this point is follow up with recommended procedures and wait for results.

Wishing you the very best.

[Anonymous]

I'll be thinking of you.

[Anonymous]

Best wishes OP. I will keep you in my prayers and positive thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Thinking of you OP. I agree with the poster at 7:01, you need to ease up on the internet reading. I'm the poster from your previous thread that had cancer after calcifications and I drove myself crazy both before my diagnosis and the first year afterwards. It can be helpful in finding out about various tests and getting support from others in similar situations, but in my case it also contributed a lot to my anxiety and depression. It's hard, but I did much better mentally after I stopped reading the breast cancer discussion boards so much. Good luck.