Your doctor may ask you do a Breast ultrasound if he/she suspects you have a variety of conditions, including:

• Determining the Nature of a Breast Abnormality detected by a physician during a physical exam (such as a lump or bloody or spontaneous clear nipple discharge) and to characterize potential abnormalities seen on mammography or breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
• Ultrasound imaging can help to determine if an abnormality is solid (which may be a non-cancerous lump of tissue or a cancerous tumor) or fluid-filled (such as a benign cyst) or both cystic and solid.
• Doppler ultrasound is used to assess blood supply in breast lesions.

Supplemental Breast Cancer Screening

• Mammography is the only screening tool for breast cancer that is known to reduce deaths due to breast cancer through early detection. Even so, mammograms do not detect all breast cancers. Some breast lesions and abnormalities are not visible or are difficult to interpret on mammograms. In breasts that are dense, meaning there is a lot of ducts, glands, fibrous tissue and less fat, many cancers can be hard to see on mammography.
• Many studies have shown that ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can help supplement mammography by detecting breast cancers that may not be visible with mammography. When ultrasound is used for screening, abnormalities not visible with mammography may be identified, including some that may require biopsy. Many of the abnormalities found with screening breast ultrasound are not cancer (false positives), but breast US allows for a full examination.

Ultrasound can be offered as a screening tool for women who:

• Are at high risk for breast cancer and unable to undergo an MRI examination.
• Are pregnant or should not be exposed to x-rays (which is necessary for a mammogram).
• Have increased breast density — when the breasts have a lot of glandular and connective tissue and not much fatty tissue (see the Dense Breasts page for more information).

Ultrasound-guided Breast FNAC (Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology) /Biopsy