Circulating Cells & Age of Tumors

RunswithScissors

There are couple of "facts" that I keep reading over and over, and I'm wondering how they know these things?

1. "All people have circulating cancer cells all their lives but the immune system stops it."

On the one hand they are telling me I need chemo and rads because we don't know if I have microscopic cells in my system that could cause mets - then I read some thing like the statement above.   How do they know we all have these cells if they can't see them? 

 2. "Palpable tumors have probably been growing for at least 10 years." 

Again, how do they know that? Are they just watching people with tumors growing and not treating them? If they are, how would they know those people are representative of the rest of us? 

 I don't understand how they could know this, so it makes we wonder how accurate it is. I am hoping to trace some of these facts to check their validity.  Anyone have info? 

Morgan513

I have no hard evidence but everything is a numbers game based on averages, etc.  I think you will see that no one is the same when it comes down to it and offering chemo seems to me to be working the odds.  I'm going to keep an eye on this thread to see what you come up with.

Lorrie 

Anonymous

Welcome to the "How do they know this?" club. There are very few members. Most people just go along, not asking this single most important question.

When I first asked this question of an onc, his response was, "I don't know the details but my mentor does." 

What?  He's recommending chemo for me but he's only got second-hand information? Didn't that used to be called "gossip?"

For most breast cancer strategies, you will find the honest answer from a good doc is, "well, we don't actually know it, but we think it. It's our current working theory so that's why we recommend it. Next year we may recommend something else." 

"Not knowing when the dawn is coming, I open every door." -- Emily Dickinson