Is it worth it to get a 3-D mammogram?

[Anonymous]

Had my second one ever (first due to age following a baseline a few years back) and had to decide whether to upgrade to a 3-D from a regular one. I wasn't prepared for the question, hadn't done any research about it but decided to in the end ($50 more not covered by insurance). Does anyone know one way or the other or is this just a way of upselling patients?

[Anonymous]

I think it's worth it. I was just diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer; .7 mm at age 45 with no known high risk factors and my Dr. thinks the 3D mammogram and radiologist saved my life. If it wasn't picked up, who knows what stage it would be at my next mammogram a year later.

[Anonymous]

I did not do a 3D on my mamogram this year and then was called back for a recheck. They did the 3D on the recheck and all was fine. If I had just paid the $50 on the first one I would not have had to go back. I am going 3D from now on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's worth it. I was just diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer; .7 mm at age 45 with no known high risk factors and my Dr. thinks the 3D mammogram and radiologist saved my life. If it wasn't picked up, who knows what stage it would be at my next mammogram a year later.

I'm not exactly commenting on your situation because your doctor knows best what it was, but there is a myth out there about early detection and breast cancer that it saves lives and generally that is not the case. The aggressive cancers that are going to metastasize will do so early on, so catching it on a mammogram won't alter its course. And the slower growing cancers will not metastasize even if you catch it later. There are those somewhere in between that may benefit from early detection. But often women will say their lives were saved when their cancer was caught at stage I or DCIS and the science, generally, doesn't support that in most cases. This is the crux of the whole mammogram debate.

My personal experience was that the mammogram didn't pick up my cancer, though I had a lump, and it wasn't properly diagnosed until a year later. Obviously I didn't have early detection, and I wasn't diagnosed at stage I. But I survived. had it gone another year I probably would not have. But catching it after I found a lump didn't make a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's worth it. I was just diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer; .7 mm at age 45 with no known high risk factors and my Dr. thinks the 3D mammogram and radiologist saved my life. If it wasn't picked up, who knows what stage it would be at my next mammogram a year later.

I'm not exactly commenting on your situation because your doctor knows best what it was, but there is a myth out there about early detection and breast cancer that it saves lives and generally that is not the case. The aggressive cancers that are going to metastasize will do so early on, so catching it on a mammogram won't alter its course. And the slower growing cancers will not metastasize even if you catch it later. There are those somewhere in between that may benefit from early detection. But often women will say their lives were saved when their cancer was caught at stage I or DCIS and the science, generally, doesn't support that in most cases. This is the crux of the whole mammogram debate.

My personal experience was that the mammogram didn't pick up my cancer, though I had a lump, and it wasn't properly diagnosed until a year later. Obviously I didn't have early detection, and I wasn't diagnosed at stage I. But I survived. had it gone another year I probably would not have. But catching it after I found a lump didn't make a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's worth it. I was just diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer; .7 mm at age 45 with no known high risk factors and my Dr. thinks the 3D mammogram and radiologist saved my life. If it wasn't picked up, who knows what stage it would be at my next mammogram a year later.

I'm not exactly commenting on your situation because your doctor knows best what it was, but there is a myth out there about early detection and breast cancer that it saves lives and generally that is not the case. The aggressive cancers that are going to metastasize will do so early on, so catching it on a mammogram won't alter its course. And the slower growing cancers will not metastasize even if you catch it later. There are those somewhere in between that may benefit from early detection. But often women will say their lives were saved when their cancer was caught at stage I or DCIS and the science, generally, doesn't support that in most cases. This is the crux of the whole mammogram debate.

My personal experience was that the mammogram didn't pick up my cancer, though I had a lump, and it wasn't properly diagnosed until a year later. Obviously I didn't have early detection, and I wasn't diagnosed at stage I. But I survived. had it gone another year I probably would not have. But catching it after I found a lump didn't make a difference.

So how was it diagnosed?

[Anonymous]

Adding a voice to the choir of the value of 3d mammogram, which detected 2 very small masses that were malignant. I am alive 10 years later thanks to that $50 extra.

[Anonymous]

I always get 3D and ultrasound now, but I have multiple fibroadenoma and even 3D isn't the best way to see them. The ultrasound from the get go avoids the anxiety of a call back and a second visit.

[Anonymous]

Can you all recommend 3D labs that you went to? I am due for my first mammogram and nervous. Can anyone explain how it works for someone fairly flat-chested?

[Anonymous]

You usually have to be pre-cleared as a “high-risk” patient. I went through the 30 odd questions with a counselor and even with a mom who had it twice and an aunt and cousin who died from it, was told I did not qualify. My gynecologist said the same.

[Anonymous]

Oh all the upsell paranoia.
Yes it is worth $50.
WRA offers it to anyone for an added fee you agree to when you show up. The whole "qualify" is for insurance coverage of the $50.

And the "early detection DOESN'T save lives" rationers...well it might not make much difference in whether you are still alive in 5, or 10, years. But the HUGE DIFFERENCE is what those years were like for most of us. Lumpectomy vs radical mastectomy. Brutal chemo vs tamoxifen. Get real. And did they follow up longer?

[Anonymous]

Absolutely. It's criminal that it's not the standard now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always get 3D and ultrasound now, but I have multiple fibroadenoma and even 3D isn't the best way to see them. The ultrasound from the get go avoids the anxiety of a call back and a second visit.

Sibley

[Anonymous]

I am so confused.

I thought 3D was the standard now. It wasn't in 2013, but I thought it was now?

Yes, get 3D.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's worth it. I was just diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer; .7 mm at age 45 with no known high risk factors and my Dr. thinks the 3D mammogram and radiologist saved my life. If it wasn't picked up, who knows what stage it would be at my next mammogram a year later.

I'm not exactly commenting on your situation because your doctor knows best what it was, but there is a myth out there about early detection and breast cancer that it saves lives and generally that is not the case. The aggressive cancers that are going to metastasize will do so early on, so catching it on a mammogram won't alter its course. And the slower growing cancers will not metastasize even if you catch it later. There are those somewhere in between that may benefit from early detection. But often women will say their lives were saved when their cancer was caught at stage I or DCIS and the science, generally, doesn't support that in most cases. This is the crux of the whole mammogram debate.

My personal experience was that the mammogram didn't pick up my cancer, though I had a lump, and it wasn't properly diagnosed until a year later. Obviously I didn't have early detection, and I wasn't diagnosed at stage I. But I survived. had it gone another year I probably would not have. But catching it after I found a lump didn't make a difference.