any invasive procedure requiring general anesthesia can cause a
preciptious decline in cognitive abilities.

what are her wishes?  would she want invasive treatment just so
she can have more time for her abilities to deteriorate?  

I'd recommend another physician's opinion. Who sent her for the
mammogram? Was a surgeon consulted? Biopsies can often be done under
local and/or narcotic analgesia/anesthesia with reduced danger of
cognative compromize. Who knows what advances in ad treatment might be
forthcoming as has treatment of breast Ca? Just MHO.

Have been holding off on saying anything, because I didn't want to sound
negative or alarmist. Maybe the radiologist feels its not worth treating 'a
senior citizen' or someone with a dementia, or the kind of cancer s/he
suspects. Or maybe the size/shape, etc., looks like it's something benign
and s/he is willing to take the chance its not cancer.

The reason I say this is we just lost my husband's 71 yr old uncle to a
galloping form of stomach cancer. His primary care physician did not refer
him to an oncologist; he suggested hospice. The family simply made the appt
and told him to give them a referral, but couldn't get an expedited appt
because the docs office didn't communicate any urgency to the case.

In just a month between CT scans, the cancer had tripled in size and # of
metastases. If we had those three months from the initial suspicion of
cancer to his appt with the oncologist, perhaps it could have been slowed
down and there would have been some time to get things more in order. He
died four months from that appt with his PCP.

After our experience with this kind of ageism, we are pretty bitter. It's
paternalistic. Perhaps from the shape or locations of the cancer, he could
tell it wasn't amenable to treatment. But that should have been the family's
decision. Perhaps this oncologist is also trying to decide for your family.

Can they do a needle biopsy? IIRC, that is far less likely to need a general
anesthetic.

Adelle