Melanoma caused by radiation treatment

Jaredsmom

I have been lurking on these boards since my diagnosis of IDC in 9/06 but have never had the courage to post. However, after undergoing surgery to remove a malignant melanoma from the same breast on 8/1, I felt compelled to write and find out if anyone else has experienced this. Thankfully, the cancer was not invasive but "in situ" and I will not require further treatment or surgery. However, I just want to alert others that this does happen. My surgeon said, 'I believe this melanoma was caused by the radiation". I'd appreciate some feedback...Thanks!!

maxgirl

I haven't heard of this before, but there are so many potential serious side effects from chemo and rads, that I can very easily believe it. Thanks for the reminder that we need to keep an eye out for anything unusual.

Jaredsmom

Yes. Keeping our eye out for anything unusual is very important. The lesion I had was on the aerola (sp)? and since I had underwent 3 biopsies/lumpectomy on that breast when I saw what looked like someone had made a very small mark on me with a sharpie pen, I attributed it to a bruise from all the needles...I've not learned my lesson to let my MD know the MINUTE something looks new or different. Thanks.

Jaredsmom

Sorry~ I meant to say that I have NOW learned my lesson!!

Shirlann

Oh boy, of course it was the rads, but they will deny this with their dying breath!

It seems that the treatments just come with some risks. But what are we to do?

Gentle hugs, Shirlann

Jaredsmom

Yes. Both my surgeon and my gynecologist have said it was definitely caused by the radiation. I see my oncologist on Tues. am and my radiation oncologist in Sept. We'll see what they say. I still feel lucky~ I had an oncotype score of 9 and didn't have chemo...just rads and Tamoxifen. Just glad that my surgeon caught the melanoma early!! Shirlann, I have been lurking here for a long time and am always amazed at your ability to say just the right thing to make people feel cared for. You seem like a very special person!

sschmidt

You have confirmed a suspision I have had all along. I do aqua aerobics and really put on the sunscreen on that breast and chest for this very reason. About a year ago someone on the chat room said that they ahd gotten skin cancer on the same breast. I suspect that was radiation too. My very good dermatologist recommends Ocean Potion as it is a full spectrum sun screen.
Shirley

Jaredsmom

Thanks for the Ocean Potion tip. I will be seeing my dermatologist every 6 months for total body checks from this point forward. My melanoma was very close to the nipple so it has never been exposed to the sun~ I am not into nude sunbathing!! So...I'm not sure how much control I have over this but I will do everything I can from this point forward!! I just wish someone would have told me that this was a possible side effect from the radiation. I'm sure I would have gone through with it, however, I would have been much more concerned when I noticed the little dark spot...

Indigoblue

Quote:

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I have been lurking on these boards since my diagnosis of IDC in 9/06 but have never had the courage to post. However, after undergoing surgery to remove a malignant melanoma from the same breast on 8/1, I felt compelled to write and find out if anyone else has experienced this. Thankfully, the cancer was not invasive but "in situ" and I will not require further treatment or surgery. However, I just want to alert others that this does happen. My surgeon said, 'I believe this melanoma was caused by the radiation". I'd appreciate some feedback...Thanks!!

---

I have also pondered this notion since pain and nodules appeared after the first mammogram 10 yrs ago. I was being proactive, as my family history is cancer collective; mom, dad, aunt, grandparents; grandmothers and great grannies;
all died of breast cancer.

They were much older, and the xrays were likely more invasive in those days. I wonder how safe are all these tests, including the nuke junk we are given with MRI, CAT and PET, and the other chemicals...sitting ducks?

Indi [list]

Indigoblue

Yes, Shirlann, I too am always comforted by your ongoing power and insight while having a gift for comfort and calming. Are you a nurse, psychologist or social worker?
teacher? I just about reach a crazy point, and your replies always soften the edges. I've been meaning to thank you for so long/
Jaredsmom, thank you too; for kind works and thoughts.
What did your aureola lesion look like? Was it red, swollen of filled with fluid? Was it biopsied?

I am going to a new obgyn at a leading cancer center in columubus, ohio; I have strange lumps, bumps, and the onc and surgeon don't seem to think it is anything. Been begging for MRI before the bilateral; how can I convince them of this fact?

Truly, I think trip neg should be especially careful with all the exposure to radiation and exray; it's just a feeling I've had for a very long time. I used to be science and the great minds were trustworthy, invincible, and made few errors.

Now, I firmly believe the answers have yet to be found regarding rads, chemo, surgery. It's all we have, but it seems like the docs don't communicate. We become a number, a statistic, and a guinea pig the minute we go for any treatment; sometimes it works, sometimes not.

Thank you
Be well, ((hugs))

Indi

Indigoblue

I don't know about everyone else's experience; but I was given zero advice as to what to look for after the treatments ended. The docs all said they are the professionals; not to worry. I am worried. Less than a year since last rads, but since, I have educated myself to learn about toxic side effects and other details the oncologist never mentioned. He's not even doing followup exams...said I was "done". Is this true in most cases? Do we just wait and see, while hoping the surgeon and chemo oncologist is wise enough to catch something before it mets?

Do they care?

Dark spots...I would think were freckles; as we age, freckles appear. I've always gotten them from the sun and swimming (even as a child). Yikes.

Thanks Jaredsmomand all! Hadn't even looked for dark spots.

Indi

Jaredsmom

Thanks for your kind words, Indigoblue. My melanoma looked just as if someone took a sharpie pen and made a dot on my breast. I truly believed it was a bruise or something that appeared somehow as a result of all of the biopsies and tests I had undergone in previous months. It was flat and as someone who also has lots of freckles all over, it didn't concern me in the least. Today I received the results of the pet scan I had yesterday and was told that my pelvis "lit up like a Christmas tree"...will undergo ultrasound and likely laporoscopic surgery to remove cysts/and/or ovaries. This is likely due to the Tamoxifen. I'll tell ya~ it's always something but we gotta keep on going, right?? Cancer~ the gift that keeps on giving. Take care~ Jaredsmom

Shirlann

Oh my, thank you to my dear sisters for the compliments. It just seems that we so often are told little or nothing by our docs/oncs. I know they are super busy, but thank God for this site! I would be nuts without it.

Hugs, Shirlann

Cynthia1962

I read on one of the melanoma sites that anything that lowers the immune system increases the risk of melanoma. So, they mention other cancers, and chemotherapy. I guess we can now add radiation therapy to that, too. I saw a dermatologist after my first chemo tx when a freckle on my nose suddenly looked different. She said it was precancerous cells, but we could wait until after chemo to take care of it. While I was there, she did a skin check and found more than a few other spots she wants to remove and have biopsied. I sure hope they turn out to be nothing serious. I guess it's time to start using sunscreen again and hope I get enough vitamin D with food and supplements.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences!

Cynthia

Coltsneck

I hadn't heard that Melanoma is caused by radiation, so I'll keep a closer look for skin changes. Indi above asked "What did your aureola lesion look like? Was it red, swollen of filled with fluid? Was it biopsied?" There is a rare breast cancer called Paget's Disease of the Breast, which occurs in 1%-4% of breast cancer diagnoses. It is more like a skin cancer but in 90% of cases is accompanied by an underlying breast cancer. It's symptoms include mole or freckle like growths, flaking and itching of the nipple, among others. Any growth or change in a mole or freckle should be checked out by a dermatologist and/or surgeon.

Jaredsmom

Hi Coltsneck~ My lesion looked just like a dark freckle. That's it. My breast surgeon saw it, got out her magnifying glass and said, "That's got to come out~ it's either a pre-cancerous lesion or a melanoma". The lesion was tested for Paget's disease and was negative. Thanks for pointing that out~ I should have mentioned it!!

Coltsneck

I'm so happy that you have an aggressive surgeon. It would be so easy to overlook a 'freckle'. Hope that your troubles are now gone for good.
Maureen

HollyHopes

omigod - more crap to worry about! i have tons on new 'spots' - one on my lip, a gazillion on the underside of my radioactive breast!! i will ask the MD about all of this....ugh....

Jaredsmom

Hi HollyHopes~ My MD assured me that I don't need to worry about developing melanomas anywhere other than where I received breast radiation so I don't think you need to worry about the spot on your lip~ However, getting regular annual all-over body skin checks is not a bad idea!! Take Care~ Jaredsmom

WendyInCalif

Since April, I have undergone a screening mammogram, diag. mammogram, three ultrasounds, a chest x-ray, two MRI scans of bilateral breasts, mammosite radiation which included two CT scans a day to chest, another Ultrasound, and on thursday, I am scheduled for a PET scan (more contrast material, the third round). My kidneys are going to be taking a beating along with the extremely high exposure to radiation. And I am ~pushing~ fluid. Wine is a fluid, right?

::sigh::

But I have to think about what it was like 25 years ago. I can only hope the medical community is compassionate takes our lives as seriously as we do. Watch dog groups are needed for this reason, I think.

Shirlann

Hi again, I have those awful, large brown sorta lumpy looking thingys all over the underside of my breast and some on my abdomen and some on my leg. Some are just brown places, but others are lumpy, kinda like a wart.

I got some wart remover and got rid of about half of them. It works well for the "warty" ones, but did not work for the flat ones. I was so glad to get rid of these ugly things.

Worth a try. The Salicylic acid is a tiny bottle with a yellow top for warts. Some of the bigger ones took two doses.

It would be much, much, much better to have these things properly removed and biopsied by a dermatologist, but that is impossible in California now with HMO's, they will not authorize any of this now. I wonder what you do if you have a melanoma? Sheeeshh

Hugs, Shirlann

Jaredsmom

Hi Shirlann. I live in Ct. and have not had any problems getting anything related to my breast cancer authorized. The melanoma I had was a direct result of the radiation...It's horrible that we have to worry about how things are going to be paid for on top of the worry about cancer.

LillyJ

I was browsing the boards the other day and this thread caught my eye. I have a tiny, black spot right next to my nipple that wasn't there before (I had 35 radiation treatments, the last one in January, '07) and when I read the post from Jaredsmom and all the replies, I made an appointment with my breast surgeon. I see her today. Thank you so much Jaredsmom for posting! I may have just ignored it otherwise!

Jackie Lilly

Jaredsmom

Hi LillyJ~ I am hoping that whatever you have found is nothing but I'm awfully glad that you read my post and are having it checked out. Please let me know what the surgeon said. I really think most women who undergo breast radiation are in the dark about this nasty side effect!! I wish you the best of luck...

LillyJ

Just got the results and it is benign. Yea! However, I never want to have a needle stuck in that area again - hurt like heck. By the time she was done cutting it out and stitching it up, I was shaking all over!!

Jackie

Jaredsmom

Jackie~ I was thrilled to see your post and learn that your spot was benign. I'm glad your MD pursued it despite the fact that it isn't a very pleasant area to have surgery~I'd rather go through that than have invasive malignant melanoma!! Take Care~ Laura

crami2

My Onc checks the skin on both breasts very carefully in each exam. I asked her about it and she said any good Onc would look at all the parts, not just feel for lumps. Since I have always had lots of moles she talked to me carefully about watching for changes in shape, size or texture anywhere on my body. I have on spot that worries me a little on my leg and I see rad onc this week, plan to have her look at it and will follow her advice. I think that all the tx we have can cause some other issues for us...after all, in the word of my wonderful med onc "We cut you, poisoned you and burned you and you wonder why you don't feel like your old self?" When you think about it that way you understand that why when I thank her for all she has done for me she tells me "my patients are the heros here....we draw strength from your battle and admire your courage". This is how she runs her office, heaven help the nurse or office clerk that doesn't live by this philosophy! So, my dear sisters...be vigilant but live each day in joy that you are here to live it!

Jaredsmom

Very well said. My oncologist, breast surgeon, and gyn are all extremely vigilant and do examine me VERY carefully at each exam. However there is usually a few months in between visits~ I strongly encourage everyone to not wait until their next appt. if something different "pops up". A few months with melanoma or anything like it could be too long of a wait and significantly alter the prognosis. Laura

Brenda9995

Jaredsmom, my "markers", tattoos look like sharpie pen marks.  How can I tell the difference.

To All:  What does triple negative mean?

Jaredsmom

Hi Brenda~ My lesion showed up out of nowhere but I still passed it off as a bruise or leftover mark from the radiation/biopsies I underwent.  My hope is that women will take more careful note of their skin before all the treatment begins so that they will notice any changes. I NEVER in a million years would have thought that the tiny mark I had could be malignant melanoma.  By the way~ I saw my radiation oncologist on Friday who informed me that there is no way that the treatment could have caused the melanoma. He said "MAYBE~ 10-20 years after the treatment was completed but not this soon".  My oncologist and gyn both said they've seen this happen to women before soon after finishing radiation~ Who do we believe????   Take Care~ Laura

Anonymous

Shirlann



I live in Los Angeles and have an HMO, no problem with getting in to see a Dermatologist to have a strange growth removed. I saw my GP and got a referral. I have done this 2 times this year. (not counting the BC, which was #3).



I would never recommend someone used a wart remover on a growth unless it had been checked out by a Doctor first. One can only imagine what would happen if it was malignant melanoma, which apppears to be very likely to many of us.