Are nodes biopsies the norm?

3monstmama

I had my lumpectomy, or should I say, Lumpectomy 1.0 on Monday.  This Monday, we will be doing Lumpectomy 2.0 to get better margins [one margin wasn't good, the rest were excellent].  In neither situation is anyone doing anything about the nodes--per my surgeon, its DCIS and its still DCIS which means no reason to do nodes.

But I keep reading about people with DCIS who are still having nodes biopsied.

What gives?

Jelson

There is an active discussion on this topic going on under Just diagnosed

 http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/5/topic/747868?page=1#post_1705711

you can research the boards by clicking the search function on the top right - when you are on the discussion boards page. Beesie has contributed to the discussion above, and i am sure this question has been discussed  on the DCIS board right here too - because it is very confusing. basically: there is usually no snb (sentinal node biopsy) if it is only dcis UNLESS a mastectomy is being performed and then there will often be a snb because it would be more difficult to do one AFTER a mastectomy. 

Julie E

Beesie

I just finished writing a long (I do tend to be rather verbose!) post about this.  Rather than rewrite it, let me refer you to two other threads where this is discussed.  In the first, I've included links to several studies that suggest that SNBs are not necessary for those who have lumpectomies.  In the second, I've explained it in a bit more detail myself.

http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/5/topic/747604?page=1#idx_6

http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/5/topic/747868?page=1#idx_6

What it nets down to is that for those who have mastectomies, particularly if they have a lot of high grade DCIS, a sentinel node biopsy usually is recommended.  But for those who have lumpectomies, an SNB usually isn't considered necessary.  This is because if invasive cancer should be found, an SNB can always be done later, for those who have a lumpectomy.  But after a mastectomy, an SNB is no longer realistically feasible. 

Hope that makes sense!

Edited to add:  Julie, I just saw your post after I wrote mine.  Thanks!

Edited again to try to fix the links - for some reason links within BC.org never seem to work the first time they are input.