Callback Mammogram - how panicked should I be on a scale of 1-10?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something like 50% of women under 50 or mid 50s get called back. It's really horrible. In fact, some reputable experts advise less frequent screening mammograms in healthy women with no family history or other risk factors because of that.

This. We moved to Europe and my new doctor was shocked to hear I was having annual mammograms starting at 40 with no family history. Definitely not the standard here.

The thing is, most women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history. I am one of them. So I now advocate for regular mammograms starting at 40. If caught early, you might not need extensive surgery, or chemo.

That being said, callbacks are almost always nothing so OP is probably just fine.

Yes but unnecessary biopsies lead to both stress and can also lead to scar tissue that can make it harder to read future mammograms so it is totally reasonable to wait. Also it is not really clear that catching breast cancer early makes it less likely to kill you. And you can also end up treating cancer that definitely won't kill you. I say all of this as someone who had a lumpectomy for DCIS. But I don't really think of it as a "thank god they caught that early" situation, I think of it as more of a "I'll never know if that was a totally waste or live saving".

The ‘possibly life saving’ aspect is worth it to me. Doctors have no way of predicting which cases of DCIS will turn into invasive cancer and which ones will not. Would you rather find out once it has broken out of the ducts and invaded other tissue and possibly lymph nodes? That makes no sense to me.

[Anonymous]

I’ve had 2-3 callbacks. All were fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something like 50% of women under 50 or mid 50s get called back. It's really horrible. In fact, some reputable experts advise less frequent screening mammograms in healthy women with no family history or other risk factors because of that.

This. We moved to Europe and my new doctor was shocked to hear I was having annual mammograms starting at 40 with no family history. Definitely not the standard here.

The thing is, most women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history. I am one of them. So I now advocate for regular mammograms starting at 40. If caught early, you might not need extensive surgery, or chemo.

That being said, callbacks are almost always nothing so OP is probably just fine.

Yes but unnecessary biopsies lead to both stress and can also lead to scar tissue that can make it harder to read future mammograms so it is totally reasonable to wait. Also it is not really clear that catching breast cancer early makes it less likely to kill you. And you can also end up treating cancer that definitely won't kill you. I say all of this as someone who had a lumpectomy for DCIS. But I don't really think of it as a "thank god they caught that early" situation, I think of it as more of a "I'll never know if that was a totally waste or live saving".

The ‘possibly life saving’ aspect is worth it to me. Doctors have no way of predicting which cases of DCIS will turn into invasive cancer and which ones will not. Would you rather find out once it has broken out of the ducts and invaded other tissue and possibly lymph nodes? That makes no sense to me.

I had the surgery so clearly I did not decide to roll the dice. But I did decline to get radiation. The risks/side effects didn't seem worth the small reduction in risk of recurrence and no survival benefit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something like 50% of women under 50 or mid 50s get called back. It's really horrible. In fact, some reputable experts advise less frequent screening mammograms in healthy women with no family history or other risk factors because of that.

This. We moved to Europe and my new doctor was shocked to hear I was having annual mammograms starting at 40 with no family history. Definitely not the standard here.

The thing is, most women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history. I am one of them. So I now advocate for regular mammograms starting at 40. If caught early, you might not need extensive surgery, or chemo.

That being said, callbacks are almost always nothing so OP is probably just fine.

Yes but unnecessary biopsies lead to both stress and can also lead to scar tissue that can make it harder to read future mammograms so it is totally reasonable to wait. Also it is not really clear that catching breast cancer early makes it less likely to kill you. And you can also end up treating cancer that definitely won't kill you. I say all of this as someone who had a lumpectomy for DCIS. But I don't really think of it as a "thank god they caught that early" situation, I think of it as more of a "I'll never know if that was a totally waste or live saving".

The ‘possibly life saving’ aspect is worth it to me. Doctors have no way of predicting which cases of DCIS will turn into invasive cancer and which ones will not. Would you rather find out once it has broken out of the ducts and invaded other tissue and possibly lymph nodes? That makes no sense to me.

I had the surgery so clearly I did not decide to roll the dice. But I did decline to get radiation. The risks/side effects didn't seem worth the small reduction in risk of recurrence and no survival benefit

I didn’t realize there was no survival benefit with radiation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 42 and just had my third annual screening mammogram. Always do 3D. No family history. I just received a call they want me to come back in for additional images next week.

How panicked should I be?

3.

I had a callback AND a biopsy and it was still nothing.

Same here - only none of the staff told me I shouldn't worry too much and it seemed like they were really rushing to squeeze me in quickly, so I was SUPER freaked out. So mad afterward.

DP. Mad? I don’t understand. I had the same experience as you, only it was “something.” I’m grateful they got me in.

In your case, they rushed to make sure it wasn’t cancer, because - sometimes it is. They’ve personally delivered that news many times, and it never gets easier. And you’re mad? I can’t fathom.

I, too, was flummoxed by the mad. So mad that your health care providers were trying to make sure you didn’t have a potentially lethal disease?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something like 50% of women under 50 or mid 50s get called back. It's really horrible. In fact, some reputable experts advise less frequent screening mammograms in healthy women with no family history or other risk factors because of that.

This. We moved to Europe and my new doctor was shocked to hear I was having annual mammograms starting at 40 with no family history. Definitely not the standard here.

The thing is, most women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history. I am one of them. So I now advocate for regular mammograms starting at 40. If caught early, you might not need extensive surgery, or chemo.

That being said, callbacks are almost always nothing so OP is probably just fine.

Yes but unnecessary biopsies lead to both stress and can also lead to scar tissue that can make it harder to read future mammograms so it is totally reasonable to wait. Also it is not really clear that catching breast cancer early makes it less likely to kill you. And you can also end up treating cancer that definitely won't kill you. I say all of this as someone who had a lumpectomy for DCIS. But I don't really think of it as a "thank god they caught that early" situation, I think of it as more of a "I'll never know if that was a totally waste or live saving".

The ‘possibly life saving’ aspect is worth it to me. Doctors have no way of predicting which cases of DCIS will turn into invasive cancer and which ones will not. Would you rather find out once it has broken out of the ducts and invaded other tissue and possibly lymph nodes? That makes no sense to me.

I had the surgery so clearly I did not decide to roll the dice. But I did decline to get radiation. The risks/side effects didn't seem worth the small reduction in risk of recurrence and no survival benefit

I didn’t realize there was no survival benefit with radiation.

Yup. that may be because the benefits are too small to capture with clinical trials or other statistical analysis.

"It’s important to understand that radiation and hormone treatments do not change survival—the 10-year survival rate for women diagnosed with DCIS is 98% regardless of whether they receive either treatment. These treatments instead reduce the risk of breast cancer down the road.

Since treatment of DCIS after surgery doesn’t improve survival, there is a growing concern that DCIS may be overtreated if the benefit of these treatments is outweighed by their impact on quality of life."

https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/stage-zero-breast-cancer-whats-optimal-treatment-dcis#:~:text=Adding%20hormone%20therapy%20to%20radiation,whether%20they%20receive%20either%20treatment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm 42 and just had my third annual screening mammogram. Always do 3D. No family history. I just received a call they want me to come back in for additional images next week.

How panicked should I be?

3.

I had a callback AND a biopsy and it was still nothing.

Multiple callbacks (probably every other year) and 3 biopsies. Stressful, but no cancer so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve had ADH and DCIS show up on mammograms in the form of calcifications. So they’re definitely not a waste of time. Did they give you any reason for the callback? They have to say why they’re justifying it. Blurry images are different than masses or calcifications.

Good luck.

OP here. “Asymmetry” in the right breast.

[Anonymous]

I hear & read that callbacks are quite common so theoretically one should not worry too much.

However if I received a callback I would be a basket case.

Just the fear of the unknown, I suppose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve had ADH and DCIS show up on mammograms in the form of calcifications. So they’re definitely not a waste of time. Did they give you any reason for the callback? They have to say why they’re justifying it. Blurry images are different than masses or calcifications.

Good luck.

OP here. “Asymmetry” in the right breast.

I had a callback for an asymmetry of my left breast about a year ago. They took another set of images and did an ultrasound as well. It turned out to be just normal breast tissue. However, I am being followed with diagnostic mammos every 6 months to monitor 'pattern stability'. So far everything looks good. Still very anxiety inducing though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:2. Callbacks happen all the time. Like most of the time.

I am not trying to frighten OP as her callback will likely be nothing, but what you said about "call backs happening most of the time" is woefully inaccurate and incorrect. Approximately ONLY 10% of all mammograms are "call backs".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something like 50% of women under 50 or mid 50s get called back. It's really horrible. In fact, some reputable experts advise less frequent screening mammograms in healthy women with no family history or other risk factors because of that.

This. We moved to Europe and my new doctor was shocked to hear I was having annual mammograms starting at 40 with no family history. Definitely not the standard here.

The thing is, most women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history. I am one of them. So I now advocate for regular mammograms starting at 40. If caught early, you might not need extensive surgery, or chemo.

That being said, callbacks are almost always nothing so OP is probably just fine.

Yes but unnecessary biopsies lead to both stress and can also lead to scar tissue that can make it harder to read future mammograms so it is totally reasonable to wait. Also it is not really clear that catching breast cancer early makes it less likely to kill you. And you can also end up treating cancer that definitely won't kill you. I say all of this as someone who had a lumpectomy for DCIS. But I don't really think of it as a "thank god they caught that early" situation, I think of it as more of a "I'll never know if that was a totally waste or live saving".

The ‘possibly life saving’ aspect is worth it to me. Doctors have no way of predicting which cases of DCIS will turn into invasive cancer and which ones will not. Would you rather find out once it has broken out of the ducts and invaded other tissue and possibly lymph nodes? That makes no sense to me.

I had the surgery so clearly I did not decide to roll the dice. But I did decline to get radiation. The risks/side effects didn't seem worth the small reduction in risk of recurrence and no survival benefit

I didn’t realize there was no survival benefit with radiation.

There is reoccurrence benefit. Which can then reduce chances of having to chemo. Which causes a whole host of issues and is very hard on people, both physically and mentally. It also reduces the risk you need a mastectomy for a reoccurrence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve had ADH and DCIS show up on mammograms in the form of calcifications. So they’re definitely not a waste of time. Did they give you any reason for the callback? They have to say why they’re justifying it. Blurry images are different than masses or calcifications.

Good luck.

OP here. “Asymmetry” in the right breast.

I had a callback for an asymmetry of my left breast about a year ago. They took another set of images and did an ultrasound as well. It turned out to be just normal breast tissue. However, I am being followed with diagnostic mammos every 6 months to monitor 'pattern stability'. So far everything looks good. Still very anxiety inducing though.

Same here - I had a callback for asymmetry and calcifications at the same time. The asymmetry was followed up with an ultrasound and classified as probably benign and the calcifications were biopsied and the cause was a benign cyst. I was followed for 6 months diagnostic for a year after and then they switched me back to yearly annual screenings. It’s not fun but I believe in the vast majority of cases asymmetry usually just needs extra imaging and ends up benign.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve had ADH and DCIS show up on mammograms in the form of calcifications. So they’re definitely not a waste of time. Did they give you any reason for the callback? They have to say why they’re justifying it. Blurry images are different than masses or calcifications.

Good luck.

OP here. “Asymmetry” in the right breast.

Just had this this summer. I went back for a diagnostic mammogram and US, where the radiologist determined that the “asymmetry” was because of benign cysts. I have dense breast tissue and understand that callbacks are common; I’ve heard from others with dense tissue that they just request diagnostic (rather than screening) mammograms to avoid the callbacks, so I’m going to talk to my GYN about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something like 50% of women under 50 or mid 50s get called back. It's really horrible. In fact, some reputable experts advise less frequent screening mammograms in healthy women with no family history or other risk factors because of that.

But the majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history.

And the majority of women do not get breast cancer. So.