Just curious - who had a mx and still had to have rads?

Houndmommy

I was told that only about 10% of people that have a mx still need rads - I was one of the lucky ones (I really need to go play the lottery!).  Just curious as to how many others out there are like me.  Despite the mx and small tumors (although I had 4!), they could't get good margins both near the skin and near the chest wall.

How much does radiation help decrease the odds of recurrance?

Have a good day! Kim

Bethie1

Hey Kim--My name is Beth, and I'm a year out from this dreaded disease in August.  My cancer was IDC, 2cm, 5/24 nodes involved.  I had chemo of adriamyacin/cytoxin, and radiation because of lymph node involvement.  That was fine with me because when I found my lump--it was by accident--I scratched myself in the right place at the right time.  I wasn't due for a mammogram, so I had no baseline to go by.  I would've had it this year, but no such luck.

Everyone's cicumstance is different--with me the doctor told me that even with chemo and rads there's a 10 % chance of cancer reoccurrence in your lifetime. I don't know if that's me personally or everyone who is diagnosed and he  was just generally speaking.

Hope this helps!

hrf

I had rads following mx. Rad onc said better results that way when there is lymph node involvement.

precioustime

I also had rads following bilateral mastectomy.  I was going to have Rads anyway because of lymph node involvement in the mediastinal area -- they were unable to surgically remove it. 

Iamstronger

I too had rads after mastecomy.  I was borderline on whether or not to do it.  But, since my tumor was 3.0 and I had one lymph node involved, both rad dr. thought I should have radiation. 

Ann97

I too have been told that I will need rads after mastectomy.  They did not get clean margins.  For those of you that have already had it, how many times did you have to do it?

Laurie09

I had rads (33 I think) after mastectomy.  I had positive nodes that still had disease after chemotherapy which is why I had to have radiation therapy. 

I think they still do radiation after a mastectomy 1) if they are treating lymph node beds or 2) if they can't get clean margins or the margins are too close for comfort.

mumito

I had rads after my MX because my lymphnodes were involved.But the decision was not easy to make.I found rads more stressful than chemo.

1marmalade1

I had a mastectomy in June - 5 nodes removed, all negative.  I still have to do 33 rads in Sept., even with no nodal involvement.  I believe it has to do with the original size of the tumour (6cm).

Some people are led to believe that there will be no rads after a mx, and base their decision to have a mx rather than a lumpectomy for this reason.  It seems that more women are having rads after their mx than they let on.

Houndmommy

Hi Ann97!

I am currently undergoing rads after a mx without clean margins and they will be doing 28 treatments of my whole chest area (where the breast was) - it is a square about 7 x 7.

Good luck!  Kim

SallyEvian

I had chemo followed by a bmx w/ 27 nodes removed (one positive).

I started radiation, 28 treatments + 4 boosters, on July 1st.  It's 100x's worse than chemo!! I never missed a day of work on chemo but trying to work at all during the radiation is very hard for me, But... like the others have stated, it is reccommended when there is node involvement.  My doctor said it can increase survival by as much as 25%.

This probably sounds silly, but can someone explain what it means to "have clean margins?"

Thanks Ladies! Best of Luck!

 Sally

Houndmommy

Clean margins are an area of tissue around the tumor that doesn't have any cancer cells in it.  I can't remember how much "clean" tissue the doctors like to see around the tumor.  For some reason 5mm stick in my mind but I may be way off on this and it might also depend on the doctor.

SallyEvian

Ah ha! Thanks.

I figured it was probably something like that.  I'm guessing I had the clean m's since they offered a lumpectomy, but I had them take everything from both breasts instead.  I didn't want to f*** around. My mom died at a young age from BC.

 Thanks!

Melinda41

I also had Mx, 6 months of chemo and 30 rads Tx.

KristyAnn

I had 33 rounds of rads after 6 rounds of TCH and weekly Herceptin. I had a really small tumor (9 mm) and a negative sentinel node BUT they found a positive intramammary node during pathology- which in combination with the aggressive tumor (highly Her2+), they recommended rads in addition to mx. Apparently the combination of a positive intramammary and a negative sentinel is quite uncommon so the docs opted for more aggressive treatment!

lago

I was told most likely I will have rads due to the size of my tumor. Right now there is a 70% chance it isn't in my lymph nodes based on the fact that they can't feel any, nothing showed up on the MRI. I'm also pretty thin and small (according to the BS &PS) so lymph nodes are easier to feel on me if they are inflammed… but again that's no grantee. I'll know soon. Surgery tomorrow.

I too have heard if there is lymph node involvement then rads are usually prescribed. Makes sense.

Carole66

My sentinel node tested positive after my mastectomy and being told I need to go for 6 weeks of radiation.

chele

I had BMX followed by A/C and Taxol, then 33 rads.  I had "extranodal extensions" - cancer outside the node.  Three of nine nodes removed were cancerous.

mom3band1g

me, for bad margins.

LisaSec

Hi ladies!  I had bmx with no node involvement and opted for immediate reconstruction as I was led to believe I would not need rads. 

Initially, I had partial mx with positive margins then opted for bmx in July but once again margins were not clean. I have been told I will have 25 sessions. For me the difference in recurrence percentage was significant so my DH and I agreed that rads was the appropriate path.