Can a mammogram see an abnormality that an ultrasound can miss?

I had calcifications and they were benign. A few years later I had a Mammogram showing a tiny lesion and the Radiologist performed an Ultrasound. The Radiologist said it looks like breast cancer without even doing a biopsy. We couldn't find a lump at all, because it was so deep embedded. Ductal carcinoma in situ is the early stage of breast cancer, which means that the cancer has not invaded other tissue (non-invasive), meaning it is still only in the milk ducts. An ultrasound would not show DCIS, only a mammogram would.

Yes. If you are under 40, it's best to have both a mamogram and ultrasound. But self breast exams need to be done daily too.

Breast tissue density changes as we get older.

In younger women (under 40) the tissue is usually too dense for a mammogram to show the full picture, ultrasound usually gives a better idea of what is going on.

Older women (over 50) usually have much les density in their breast tissue, and the dense areas indicating a tumour show relatively clearly.

If a suspicious area is found in a mammogram, an ultrasound is often done of the area to give a clearer picture of what is happening.

In my own case, I had a suspisious lump which was thought to be a cyst. On the mammogram, it appears as a large version of smaller cysts which were not palpable. On the ultrasound, it is clear that the large lump was dense tissue, while the smaller areas were definately fluid filled cycts.

If a suspisios area was detected on mammogram but cleared on ultrasound, I would keep monitoring, but accept the Dr's diagnosis that it was not currently an area of concern.

YES!!!!! I was diagnosed with DCIS, which is microcalicifications throughout the breast. It didn't show up at all on an ultrasound, we found it through a biopsy and when I had a mammogram done you could see it all throughout the breast.

Salli is right. Many times, the only sign of an early breast cancer is microcalcifications. Many woman have microcalcifications in the breast, and most types are benign. But, DCIS produces microcalcifications which are very unique. And, it can be the only sign that something is wrong. Microcalcifications are the size of a grain of sand, and they are not seen with ultrasound. This is one of the reasons why we do screening (meaning exams done on patients with no symptoms) mammograms and not screening ultrasounds of the breast. DCIS can be found very early, before a palpable lump can be felt, with regular, screening mammograms.

But, if you are a young woman who has a breast mass, an ultrasound is the best exam for you. All signs of breast cancer (a mass or microcalcifications) are white on mammographic film. A young breast is made up of dense tissue, which also looks white on film. It is very difficult to see the white abnormal tissue through the white, normal, dense tissue. It is like finding a volleyball in the snow on a photograph.

I think they should both be used in conjunction to get the most accurate results. I just had both done because I found a breast lump & the mammogram didn't show anything but the ultrasound revealed a solid mass (have to get a biopsy). The technician was reluctant to perform the mammogram because of my age (I'm only 29) probably because she figured it was unnessecary radiation exposure. Better to get both done though to be safe.

Yes it can.