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rhondalea · 09-21-2011, 04:08 PM

Mine didn't show on any of my mammograms from 2009 to 2011 or in the core needle biopsy pathology reports of 2008 and 2011.

Given that I had a 1.2 cm tumor (with lymphovascular invasion, no less, not to mention the 1.4 cm non-palpable tumor in one of my nodes) when my gynecologist felt the lump, it's a good bet that the cancer was already present at the time of the 2008 biopsy. (Either that, or it grew really, really fast--which is always possible, I suppose, because even six months earlier, there was no lump.)

To the best of my understanding, my breast tissue was not dense, so that doesn't explain what happened. Nor had I ever had any other breast problems except for slight swelling right before my periods.

Mammograms are not a panacea (and neither is a needle biopsy). The failure rates aren't horrifically high, but to the woman who gets a false negative, it's not very comforting.

09-21-2011, 04:08 PM	#4
rhondalea Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Somerset, NJ Posts: 487	Re: Cancer that does not show on MAMMO.? Mine didn't show on any of my mammograms from 2009 to 2011 or in the core needle biopsy pathology reports of 2008 and 2011. Given that I had a 1.2 cm tumor (with lymphovascular invasion, no less, not to mention the 1.4 cm non-palpable tumor in one of my nodes) when my gynecologist felt the lump, it's a good bet that the cancer was already present at the time of the 2008 biopsy. (Either that, or it grew really, really fast--which is always possible, I suppose, because even six months earlier, there was no lump.) To the best of my understanding, my breast tissue was not dense, so that doesn't explain what happened. Nor had I ever had any other breast problems except for slight swelling right before my periods. Mammograms are not a panacea (and neither is a needle biopsy). The failure rates aren't horrifically high, but to the woman who gets a false negative, it's not very comforting. __________________ 2/6/09 Core needle biopsy: negative; Mammos through 2010: no change 3/30/11 Pea-sized lump in left breast at site of prior biopsy; mammo negative, sonogram not so much 4/14/11 Core needle biopsy: negative for cancer 5/18/11 Excisional biopsy 1.2 cm tumor, LVI, positive margin; ER+60%,PR+20%,HER2/CEP17 5 6/15/11 BMX: Left DCIS & LH; Right ADH; SNB: 2/3 nodes: 1.4 cm and 1 mm; ALND L1&2: 0/10; Stage IIa, Grade 3 7/14/11 CT/Bone scans NED; MUGA 66% 7/19/11 Biweekly dd AC w/Neulasta; done 8/30/11 9/13/11 Transfusion (Hemoglobin 8.6); MUGA 64% 9/20/11 Start Taxol + Herceptin; Taxol done 12/6/2011; continue Herceptin until 9/4/2012 12/27/11 Radiation - 6 weeks; 2/27/2012 - DONE! Yayyyy! 2/29/12 Start Tamoxifen 20 mg/day; continue until 2/28/17 5/16/12 Start five-years Metformin trial 6/19/12 MUGA 61% 8/21/12 Brain MRI NED (head still hurts, brain still fogged) 9/4/12 Herceptin done! 9/6/12 Port out! 7/11/13 Aricept 5mg for cognitive impairment; increased to 10mg as of 8/23/13; back to 5mg 12/2013 5/2014 Add Namenda 7mg 9/2014 Stop Aricept and Namenda; Neuropsychological evaluation 10/24/14 Start cognitive rehabilitation therapy