Malignant Masses

Malignant or Cancerous Masses:

This is an elderly woman who has a very fatty breast with an irregularly shaped mass that was malignant. You can see the edges are not smooth. This is also called a spiculated mass which looks a little "star-shaped".

This 70 year old woman had a mammogram which shows a mass in one breast

You can see that this mass has very irregular borders and is called a spiculated mass

This looks like a cancer on mammogram and when it was biopsied with a needle, cancer cells were identified

This woman has a cancer in each breast. Although unlikely, cancer can occur in both breasts either at the same time, or at different times.

This woman has a cancer in the breast as well as a cancerous lymph node. The cancer in the breast has spread to the lymph nodes.

This woman has cancerous
lymph nodes.

This woman had a mass that was both felt and apparent on the mammogram.You can see the mass is very smooth and located behind the nipple on the mammogram

An aspiration was performed and blood was found and the mass did not completely collapse. Bloody cysts are unusual and therefore a sonogram was performed. The mass was removed surgically and proved to be a very uncommon tumor called an intracystic cancer. This is a very early breast cancer with an excellent prognosis. Radiation may not be required.

This 42 year old woman has very dense breasts. There is an area that does not appear normal. Because it was hard to see, a special mammogram called a spot compression view was ordered to determine if this finding was real or would disappear after a little more compression.

On this view, the area became more prominent and easier to see. A biopsy demonstrated cancer cells.

Not all breast cancers are detected on mammography nor are all breast cancers found by manual examination. It is important, at an appropriate age, to begin the screening process. Over the age of 40, you should be going for yearly clinical breast examinations and mammography.