Will an ultrasound be able to detect breast cancer?

It can in some cases: Depending upon the tissue density of a breast cancer relative to the density of the surrounding normal breast tissue, many breast cancers can be detected by ultrasound. There are some cancers that are detected by us when a mammogram is normal and vice versa. Of course, a cancer detected by us needs to have a tissue diagnosis, usually by an us guided core needle biopsy.

UnlikelyNotImpossibe: The standard method for detecting breast cancer is mammography, read by an experienced radiologist who mostly specializes in breast imaging. There are efforts to use MRI but the full spectrum of mr imaging abnormalities is still being studied plus the methods for breast MRI are still being tweaked. Ultrasound can help guide biopsies once a lesion is found but is not as good for screening.

Sometimes...: Ultrasound is most useful as a directed test to evaluate a mass seen on mammography or palpated on (self) exam. Info from the ultrasound helps us decide if biopsy is necessary to check for cancer. Ultrasound is also being used to screen for cancers; preliminary results are encouraging, especially in women with dense breasts.