Ultrasound

Ultrasound sends high-frequency sound waves through your breast and converts them into images on a viewing screen. Ultrasound complements other tests. If an abnormality is seen on mammography or felt by physical exam, ultrasound is the best way to find out if the abnormality is solid (such as a benign fibroadenoma, or cancer) or fluid-filled (such as a benign cyst). It cannot determine whether a solid lump is cancerous, nor can it detect calcifications.

If you're under age 30, your doctor may recommend ultrasound before mammography to evaluate a palpable breast lump. Mammograms can be difficult to interpret in young women because their breasts tend to be dense and full of milk glands. (Older women's breasts tend to be more fatty and are easier to evaluate). In mammograms, this glandular tissue looks dense and white—much like a cancerous tumor. Some doctors say that locating an abnormality in the midst of dense gland tissue can be like finding a polar bear in a snowstorm. Most breast lumps in young women are benign cysts, or clumps of normal glandular tissue.

Doctors also use ultrasound to guide biopsy needles precisely to suspicious spots in the breast, without radiation exposure.

Ultrasound is not a substitute for a screening mammogram. Its value as a general screening test for breast cancer is unproven.