• ACR defines the category 3 assessment as “probably benign,” with a “≤2% likelihood of malignancy, but greater than the essentially 0% likelihood of malignancy of a characteristically benign finding” 

• Assigning category 3 to a finding identified at screening mammography is inappropriate. A comprehensive diagnostic workup, including magnification views for calcifications and US of masses and asymmetries, may downgrade the finding as benign or prompt a biopsy recommendation if suspicious features are identified.

• Regardless of the imaging modality used, radiologists should consider certain patient-related factors when assigning category 3, such as the indication for the examination and the patient’s risk for breast cancer, age, possible anxiety from uncertainty and required follow-up examinations, and likelihood of compliance with surveillance imaging.

• Validated category 3 findings on baseline mammograms include (a) a noncalcified circumscribed solid mass, (b) a solitary group of round calcifications, and (c) focal asymmetry without associated suspicious findings

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