By Dr. Kathleen Ruddy
There are many times that a woman is not aware that she has calcifications, or calcium deposits in her breasts, because they can be very small. Calcifications are often the first sign of an impending breast cancer. There are many risk factors that a woman may have that can increase her risks of breast cancer. Risk factors include dense breast tissue, family history of breast cancer, smoking, and reproductive cancers in the past. Getting an annual mammogram can help to catch breast cancer early.
The Good News
Breast calcifications appear on mammograms. This is a great way to detect calcifications early. If you have risk factors for breast cancer, getting an annual mammogram can catch the calcifications that may later lead to breast cancer. This way, doctors will know to watch you more closely. This can be beneficial to you. Calcifications do not always mean breast cancer. There are benign conditions that can show up as calcifications on a mammogram. This includes old injury to breast tissue, calcium, and fluid mixed in a breast cyst, and arteries clogged with calcium inside the breast. Calcifications in your breasts does not always mean that you have breast cancer. Calcifications are very common. Approximately 50 percent of women that go in for a mammogram, over the age of 50, will have calcifications show up on their mammogram. Roughly, 10 percent of women below 50 will have them. Of those women, only about 4 percent will go on to have breast cancer later in life.
The Bad News
Breast calcifications can sometimes mean breast cancer. At times, calcifications that are found in small clusters can be the beginning of breast cancer. It is important that these areas be investigated, because they can help catch breast cancer at the very earliest stages. This is reassuring to women who may have risk factors for developing breast cancer later. The breast cancers that are associated with calcifications are often invasive. Invasive breast cancers are typically aggressive. The word “invasive” alone is scary, and the reason that these two go hand in hand is that the calcifications grow quickly. This allows for a faster growing breast cancer, if that is indeed what the calcifications turn into. Calcifications will often mean surgery, to biopsy the area. About 80 percent of the time, a doctor will want to do a biopsy on the area that the calcifications are found in, to make sure there are no cancerous cells floating around. This number would go up greatly if you are a woman that is at risk for breast cancer due to family history, your own medical history, or lifestyle.
DID YOU KNOW?
Did you know that every woman has approximately a 12 percent chance of developing breast cancer in their lifetime? This possibility goes up after menopause.
Calcifications alone are typically, not scary. The fact that breast cancer can start with calcifications can be disheartening. The good news, is with the help of a good doctor, and a support system, a woman can make it through this. Calcifications, if they are the early stages for breast cancer, typically mean the cancer was caught extremely early. This makes it easier to treat, and makes the prognosis better. If you have risk factors for breast cancer, and calcifications on your mammogram, talk to your doctor about the next step to take, to be in the best health possible.
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