Does chemo before surgery clean out the nodes?

JudyO

Does chemo before surgery clean out the nodes?

JudyO

I see that many of the ILC large tumors have chemo before surgery so that the tumor shrinks. Some people seem to get good results with this. Does the chemo also kill the cancer in the lymph nodes? If so, is the number of positive nodes usually less for someone who has the chemo before surgery?

lexislove

I believe that a pCR, complete pathological response , no tumor left in the breast and nodes, only happens  about 15-20% of the time. The chemo will have an effect on the tumor first... than the teeny ity bity nodes.

I'm having cut and paste problems but here is a link on a study regarding neo adjuvant chemo and positive lymph nodes. Basically it states that a SNLB biopsy performed AFTER chemo, is an accurate predictor in lymph node status.

nash

Lexilove, I couldn't get the link to work, but I'm interested in this article. One of the arguments against neoadjuvant chemo my surgeon made was that it made proper staging difficult b/c it made it impossible to know true lymph node status. So I'd be interested in this study, b/c obviously some researchers have found otherwise.

lexislove

I can't get the link to work either lol......just type in your search bar. Sorry!

bevsteed

I have ILC, Stage IIIA, triple negative with 3 tumors largest being 8.5cm with clinically positive nodes.  I did 4 months of neoadjuvant chemo.  Had an MRI on Jan. 21 and it shows the tumors and lymph nodes are gone.  A follow up magnified digital mammo with ultrasound was done Feb. 7 and shows the same thing.  So, I'm one of the very lucky ones for whom neoadjuvant chemo worked marvelously.  I'm having bi-lateral mastectomy on Feb. 23 and after that 4 more months of chemo followed by radiation.  I guess we'll see for certain on the final pathology report whether or not the scans are correct.   

Survivor07

My ILC "mass" (not sure what was cancer and what was swollen tissue) was 12 x 8 cm's when Diagnosed last October.  After 10 chemo treatments, it's down to 1/2 that size.  I'll be done with chemo in April and will then have mastectomy. Back in October, my doctor was able to feel a couple of swollen lymph nodes--not anymore. They've totally gone down in size.  I would have to say that chemo is working for me!

Susan

Survivor07

Try this link:

 http://www.jhsgr.com/presentation/Neoadjuvant%20sep04.pps

 Changed the colon to a period.

lexislove

Thanks Survivor07!!!!!.....lol

There's the proper link ladies, I think this study is about 4 yrs old now.