If Something is Found…

What happens if you or your health care provider finds something amiss?

Of the women who get mammograms, about one in 10 will need more pictures taken. Most women who do have more pictures taken do not have breast cancer. In fact, only about one or two mammograms out of 1,000 actually find lumps that turn out to have cancer.

If a lump is found, your health care provider will order a biopsy, which is a test of a small amount of tissue taken from the lump and the area around the lump. The tissue is sent to a lab, which checks for cancer or changes that may mean cancer is likely to develop.

False Positives and False Negatives

Keep in mind the possibilities that a mammogram may report false positives or false negatives.

A false negative is the finding that everything appears to be normal, but cancer is actually present. The good news is that false negatives occur very seldom.

Younger women are more likely to have a false negative mammogram than an older woman because a younger person’s breast tissue is denser, making the cancer harder to spot.

A false positive is reported when the breast appears to have cancer but does not. These results also are more common in younger women than in older women.

Breast Care Can Save Your Life

One important fact to remember is that breast care can save your life. If you find breast cancer early, you have a better chance of surviving this disease.

You also will have more choices for treatment if you detect breast cancer early. Proper breast care will also ensure that you are doing everything you can to prevent breast cancer from separating you from your family, friends and community.