After a Questionable Mammogram

Although mammograms detect most breast cancers, they are not foolproof. Mammograms are sensitive, but they are not specific. This means that when an abnormality is detected, the reader cannot necessarily tell what it is.

In addition, normal breast tissue can hide breast cancer, so that it does not show up on the mammogram. This is called a false negative.

An abnormality that looks like cancer on a mammogram could turn out to be normal. This "false alarm" is called a false positive. To make up for these limitations, testing beyond mammography is often necessary.

In the event that a mammogram is suspicious for cancer, the next step is diagnostic testing. Current protocols include ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or nuclear medicine techniques.

Breast-Specific Gamma Imaging/Molecular Breast Imaging (BSGI/MBI) goes beyond mammography, MRI and ultrasound, and has emerged as an affordable, next step imaging test for breast cancer diagnosis. This functional medicine technique can differentiate cancerous and non-cancerous cells to help you and your doctor see what matters.

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