Poorly differentiated/responsive to chemo?

ira99

Hello:

 A close relative was recently diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer . The mets are to several spinal vertebrae only and to the lymph nodes. But no mets elsewhere.  She'll need surgery for the spine this week because of fracture in one of the cervical vertebrae.

Her doctor recently told her that her  cancer is expected to be responsive to chemotherapy and that the cancer cells are "poorly differentiated".

The doctor can't speak to me about the data and meaning of the report. Hope you dont mind my asking questions on her behalf. Access to doctor's time is not easy.

 Would someone kindly explain to me in which sense "poorly differentiated" cells would suggest responsiveness to chemotherapy?  Wouldn't a a higher grade suggest a more aggressive cancer?   I'm assuming"poorly differentiated" means Grade 3

Much of this is new to me and rather baffling. Hope its  ok to post questions here as they arise.

 Thank you:

-ira

revkat

Ira -- poorly differentiated does mean grade 3. It means that the cells look quite different from normal cells. Part of the reason is that they are reproducing so rapidly. Chemo works best on cells that reproduce rapidly so it seems to work best on more aggressive cancers. So there's good news/bad news for poorly differentiated tumors -- bad news, they are more aggressive; good news, chemo is more likely to wipe them out. There probably is a more scientific answer out there, but this is the short version.

Do keep posting, eventually someone will come along with an answer! 

ibcmets

Ira,

I have ibc breast cancer with bone metastasis.  Each woman's treatment will be customized for her symtoms.  I had no pain with the bones.  My oncologist has treated me with aggressive chemo, monthly Zometa for the bones (which scans showed healed lesions within 6 months) and hormone therapy (Femara).  Do to my own research, I did not want to do tamoxafin.  The chemo also worked well with me.  I also had 3.5 tumor which is gone.  Object is to keep me stable as long as possible.

Terri

ira99

Thanks revkat and ibcmets:

The terminology now makes more sense in terms of good news/bad news.  Faster growing , yet more susceptible to chemo...Guess that's what the Dr meant..

Unfortunately, they cannot start on the chemotherapy until she heals somewhat from surgery on her cervical spine. Thats where all the bone mets are.

They cannot do a mastectomy until she's been on chemo for a while. Forgot the reason why?

So it seems there's a sequence to the treatment now, rather than an "all-out attack" using everything they have.

I guess I should post on the Stage IV Forum. though I dont see guidelines there about relatives.

 Thank you so much ladies for being there.

-Ira

sflow

Hi,

  Nice that you are posting for someone and we always welcome people here.  My onc told me that grade one cells appear more symmetrical where grade 3 are more irregular looking--meaning there is a possibility that pieces of the grade cells have broken off and migrated elsewhere in the body.  Probably not a "scientific" explanation, but made sense to me.