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I was shocked at your response to the 18 year old woman who had found a lump in her breast. I am a PINK AMBASSODOR (I educated and promote the importance of MONTHLY SELF BREAST EXAMS). A lump should ALWAYS be treated s a threat to one's health. Unfortunately, breast cancer is VERY progressive in young woman. I applaud this young womans awareness and the courage to tell her doctor. She should seek a second opinion (a third if necessary!). This situation would be scary to anyone. She should share this with her mother. Together, they can make informed decissions. EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES!!! Shanda Woodward, Spokane WA

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I would like to reply to your answer to "Unsure". I found a lump in my breast and was told not to worry. This was afrer a mamogram as well. I live in Massachusetts and because I wasn't satisfied with this answere, I took my mamogram to a hospital in Boston. The doctor there told me that if I had a lump in my breast it didn't belong there. He did a byopsy. It turned out to be Cancer. I sometime think back at what may have happened if I listened to that first doctor. This was in 1990 - I am cancer free. Please go to a reputable hospital and doctor and have a second opinion. Gerry in Massachusetts

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She needs to go to her doctor and request a needle biopsy. Years ago, we found a lump in my breast and my doctor found a second. He sent me to a surgeon who removed both lumps and found they were just cysts. Years later, after starting to get mammograms, my current doctor wanted to check to see what the lump he could see on the mammogram was. He sent me to a specialist who did a needle biopsy and told me immediately that it was non-cancerous by the color of the fluid he removed. There was absolutely no pain or pressure and I could watch the progress on a screen. My husband was in the room, too. I know the test is expensive but I have insurance that paid for it. It was a relief to know that I was OK and that my doctor was watching out for me.

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"Unsure" should inform her mother right away. She didn't say what type of doctor she was seeing. If she's only 18, she may still be seeing her family doctor or pediatrician. She should definitely see a gynecologist. That hard lump could just be a cyst, or maybe a hardened lymph node, or it could be nothing. She should at least have an Ultrasound of the area. Believe me, there is no correct age for getting breast cancer. My mother was first diagnosed at age 40, and her mother died from metastatic breast cancer at age 33.

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This is a matter of life and death!! I have never written into you before, though I read your articles every day. I was told 21 months ago that I had a 30% chance of living for 1 year. I am alive and still fighting a hard battle with a very rare form of breast cancer--Inflammatory Breast Cancer. My body has been destroyed by this disease. I can understand that you don't know that much about cancer. Most Drs. don't either. But, your response could be deadly. Here is what that young girl needs to know. All lumps are serious. She needs to immediately go to the best BREAST SURGEON she can find. They are the only ones who really know what they are doing. Her doctor should have sent her immedicately. Mine didn't. I had a lump in my breast for 6 years. Nothing was done about it. I had mamograms but "nothing" showed up. I even had one 4 months before I was told that I had stage 3C and would probably not live. She needs a BREAST MRI. This is much better technology. However, insurance companies often don't want to pay for it. I had 4-5 needle biopsies that also all came back "negative." I had 4-5 ultrasounds that showed "nothing." I also was told "not to worry about it." Although it is rare to have breast cancer at 18, this young woman should explore every procedure and keep going until she has an answer that satifies her. And she should get her mother involved. Her mom can be an advocate for her. One can never be too safe. If it is not cancer now, it may develop into cancer in the years to come. If she takes action now, she will at least be able to keep track of the progress through the use of baseline tests. Then, later if there is a change, she will be ready to take action. If it is breast cancer, she will have caught it early enough to avoid the drastic treatments they must do to you when you are late stage cancer and they are trying to save your life.

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Re: BB Stay on top of this. Negative needle biopsies don't pick up all forms of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is very hard to see with mamograms, needle biopsies or ultrasounds. Every woman should have a breast MRI is she has a lump. Inflammatory Breast Cancer can form around the outside of a lump. So, when they go into the lump and retrieve fliud, it will show "nothing."

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Re: Geraldine Bailey You are the success story. I am not. I believed my doctor who told me not to worry. By the time I was worried, it was almost too late. I have had many rounds of chemo, radiation, surgery, etc. I have stage 3C Inflammatory Breast Cancer. Luckily, I was able to get into a really good breast surgeon just in the nick of time. She took one look at me and said that I had breast cancer and would be having surgery the next morning. When I woke up she told me I had a 30% chance of living 1 year. That was 21 months and a lot of chemo ago. I am now back in radiation for a second time and will spend another year on chemo again.

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This is in response to Unsure, the 18-year-old woman who found a breast lump and has chosen to keep silent about it. Two months ago, at age sixteen, I found a breast lump of my own and also found lots of information on the internet that supported the idea of it being a totally harmless fibroadenoma. My doctor also thought that it was harmless, but ordered an ultrasound and biopsy "just to be safe." The biopsy results pointed to a possible phyllodes tumor, which was then surgically removed. Six days ago I found out that the lump was in fact a malignant phyllodes tumor. Yes, most lumps are harmless, but they should ALL be thoroughly checked. Please don't wait to see what it does on its own!