Question: Hi, two weeks ago I had a mammogram that showed calcium in my left breast that was new according to my doctor. They also saw something else on the mammogram with the calcium and then I had an ultrasound. They told me I had a small mass near my nipple that had calcium [...]

Question: I am 56 years old and I go for my mammogram every year and my doctor said there were some calcificatons in my right breast and recommends biopsy. So I had a needle biopsy that showed “lobular carcinoma in situ” that is what the report said. He said I needed surgery which I dont [...]

Question: I am 40 years old and had my first mammogram 2 months ago. It showed a 5 mm area of micro calcifications. I had a stereotactic vacuum assisted biopsy and 8 samples were retrieved. The histopath came back as DCIS – cribriform, clinging, with a nuclear grade of 2 out of 3. The slides [...]

I have uploaded a pdf version of our course on high risk lesions on breast core biopsy that we gave last year in San Diego.  We used an audience response system so if you follow through the slides you’ll see the questions we asked of the audience and the responses that we received in real [...]

Question: Hello, I have a question. What does flat epithelial atypia mean and if it isn’t cancer, why do I need surgery? I am scheduled for surgery next week and I don’t feel comfortable. Thank you.

My radiology colleague from Harvard and I wrote a chapter on how women are being treated differently around the country and the world based on their core needle biopsy diagnosis. I posted the abstract a while back, but now we can publish the manuscript we wrote which is available here as a Word document: High [...]

Question: I had a stereotactic biopsy on 11/23/10 for pleomorphic clustered microcalcifications. These were identified on additional view mammogram. US also noted at least 15 small simple cysts, a 7mm benign appearing solid mass such as fibroadenoma or fibrocystic mastopathy and no masses in the region of the pleomorphic clustered microcalcifications. My Dr. [...]

I wrote an article a while back called “What Your Core Needle Biopsy Diagnosis Means” to help patients understand why sometimes even a “benign” diagnosis may require a surgical excision.  While writing that article, I spoke to many of my colleagues in breast pathology and breast imaging and found out that there is a marked [...]

Question: Hello, I just received the results of my core biopsy, I would like you opinion on it. Proliferated fibrocystic changes comprised of ductal epithelial hyerlasia with focal atypia, duct single minute microcalcification seen in benign fibrotic tissue. Patient needs surgery consult for breast biopsy. At this point, what do you think my risk is for cancer? I [...]

Question: After several years of mammograms showing mild calcifications, this year I was informed that the radiologist saw some mild changes in the calcifications. I did another mammogram, followed by a core biopsy. The initial report came back benign, but the final came back as atypical ductal hyperplasia. I am now scheduled [...]