Does every breast lump need to be worked up despite previous diagnoses?

Case Study: Ms. L was 56 years old when she was fi rst diagnosed with left breast cancer in 1998. During a routine examination, a 0.9 cm, hard, fi xed, nontender mass was palpated below her left nipple in the areola. Ms. L previously had refused to have a mammogram because of a history of “mastitis” and felt that the clinician was concerned needlessly; nevertheless, she was referred to a surgery clinic where a fi ne needle aspiration (FNA) was performed. The FNA was positive for infi ltrating ductal carcinoma; Ms. L underwent a modifi ed radical mastectomy and was staged with a grade I (T1b N0 M0) malignancy.