“I hope younger people will be more alert and aware, but more than anything, I hope the policies and the doctors will change,” she said. “No one should have to go through this, and had they done a mammogram at 29, then I believe they would have seen the cancer.”
Stone said that her current doctor told her she may be able to discontinue medication this fall if tests find no indication of sickness. Stone, a former hairstylist, believes she may volunteer to cut hair for cancer patients and cancer survivors if this is the case.
“I would love to be able to help other cancer patients,” she said. “But at the same time, I’m also sick and tired of cancer.”
Approximately 9% of all new breast cancer cases in the United States are diagnosed in women under 45, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Laurie Margolies, director of the breast imaging division at Mount Sinai Health System, told Insider that ultrasounds are the test of choice for most women under 30 since younger women tend to have thicker breast tissue, and ultrasounds are better at identifying the origin of a lump in such tissue.
With ultrasound in young patients, “most often, a benign cause can be readily found, and no further workup is needed,” she added. Frequently, the discomfort or lump disappears and everything is OK.
Margolies said that mammography is not suggested as the initial test for young women with a greater risk of breast cancer owing to a family history or genetic mutation. Instead, the majority of them should get a breast MRI, which tends to be more precise in dense breasts.
“Mammography is wonderful and finds many cancers and has been proven to reduce morbidity and mortality from breast cancer by 40% in multiple studies, and is clearly the right first test for the majority of women over age 40 that are at normal risk,” Margolies said. “But for many women, it’s not enough.”
In the situations when women under 30 wished they had had mammograms earlier, Margolies said, “it’s very likely that the mammogram would not have added anything” to the findings of the ultrasounds.
What may make a difference, though, is the interpretation of your ultrasound. The scans do not provide unequivocal “cancer” or “no cancer” signals, and various doctors may interpret the picture differently.
“Breast ultrasound is extremely nuanced and extremely operator-dependent,” Margolies said. “It’s not always so easy to determine if something is a simple cyst versus, for example, a triple-negative breast cancer. It can be extremely difficult to make that distinction.”
She advises young ladies who are worried about a change in their breast tissue to visit a breast ultrasound clinic recognised by the American College of Radiology. Inquire whether this facility does several breast ultrasounds. Are the radiologists who interpret ultrasounds professionals in breast imaging?
“And then listen to your body,” Margolies said. “If it’s persistent or if it feels very hard or if it’s growing, go back. Don’t be embarrassed about going back and asking more questions.”