Is it possible have DCIS in both breasts?

momof3sofar

Is it possible have DCIS in both breasts?

momof3sofar

Is it even possible to have 2 seperate cases of DCIS on each side?  The reason I ask is because after my MRI yesterday they called back to say that they had some things light up on the MRI on the opposite side of my breast that was already diagnosed as having DCIS.  They said that side had nothing extra seen and they still belive it to be a strickly DCIS (which of coarse they won't know 100% until after surgery).

I'm starting to get a little freaked out.  I have an ultrasound on the left side on Monday and then will possibly get a biopsy on that side if the US doesn't match up with the MRI/mammogram findings from the last week or so.

Thanks,

Dawn

Beesie

Dawn, from what I've read, about 3% of women diagnosed with breast cancer turn out to have BC in both breasts at the same time.  When this happens, the two diagnoses are unconnected.  Each breast might have a different type of cancer, possibly with different hormone status, etc..  So it's possible and no doubt there will be women who come by who tell you that this happened to them.

What's more likely however is that this will turn out to be a false positive. After a diagnosis of BC, our doctors tend to be especially careful at checking our breasts, wanting to find anything that might be wrong prior to surgery.  So many of us are put through extra tests like MRIs and as a result, lots of us have had false positives.  MRIs in particular are notorious for showing things that turn out not to be cancer.  In my case, it wasn't my MRI that turned up something, but my mammo. After the calcs in my right breast were determined to be DCIS, a relook at my mammo uncovered calcs in my left breast.  First step was a diagnostic mammo, which simply raised the level of concern so then I was sent off for a biopsy.  It turns out that these calcs were benign and totally harmless.  And my situation isn't unusual at all - I've seen it happen to lots of women who've come through this board.

So try not to jump the gun on this.  The fact that you've been diagnosed with BC in one breast doesn't make it any more likely that something that's discovered in your other breast will also be BC.  Anything is possible but the odds are definitely in your favor that this will turn out to be a false alarm.

sweatyspice

It is possible to have DCIS in two separate places in one breast.  In fact, it is possible to have DCIS in several places in one breast.  More than one area in the same breast is called "multifocal" or "multicentric" disease.  Multifocal when the areas are sort-of close together, multicentric when the areas are far apart (in different breast "quadrants").   This is pretty rare but it happens.  I know, it happened to me.

I would think that it also possible to have DCIS in both breasts at the same time, but that's probably really rare. 

I hope your second suspicious area turns out to be benign.

nene2059

Hi I am one of those women that Beesie is talking about. I had two separate IDC's, one in each breast.  They were similar but different enough to be sure that they were two separate primaries.  It is fairly rare but it does happen.  Nothing to freak out about though.  I know that is easier said then done but once you get over the initial OMG it is EVERYWHERE! panic attack it becomes clear that IF it is DCIS in each breast the treatment decisions and outcome will not change.  My larger tumor was a IIa and the smaller a Stage 1.  They treat based on the larger or more aggressive whichever requires more treatment. It doesn't change treatment outcome in most cases. For me, it just cemented the fact that I was having a BMX.  Chemo was already a given.  Like Beesie also said it is fairly uncommon and is most likely a fibroid or some other B9 item.  I did not know that I had anything at all in my left breast until the MRI found it.  It was a small little sucker.  I had felt the lump in my right breast.  The MRI also found a fibroid so they are very precise imaging machines and frequently find things that are not at all dangerous.  Just wanted to pop by and tell you that IF it turns out that you have DCIS in both breasts do not freak out, the treatment will not change and your body is not spinning out of control.  BC rarely, if ever, "spreads" from one breast to the other so for those that end up having BC in both breasts normally have unrelated cancers.  Both of breasts had decided to get cancer without discussing it with the other..lol.    Best of luck through this and my most powerful B9 prayers are coming your way. 

CTMOM1234

Ditto what Beesie and sweatyspice said.

Like Beesie, it wasn't the MRI but my mammo that began this process (micro-calcs showed up on routine mammo). But then I was put under further testing (including genetic testing, & MRIs) and a false positive MRI led to a biopsy in the other breast (which thankfully was benign). There's lots of perfectly fine "things" that, given our DCIS diagnosis, now lead dr's to further question and test. Most are nothing, but we are now forever on the radar screen.

And, yes, anything is possible, including two completely separate DCIS diagnoses, one in each breast. But odds are it isn't this (although I'm not a big fan of playing the odds anymore, all that matters is your own personal situation, and it can be very disappointing to hear "odds are it isn't BC" only to be told that it is -- or in my case, "It's just DCIS" and  it wasn't).

momof3sofar

THANK YOU sooo much ladies!  I really am in the "oh my gosh, it's everywhere phase"  I was ok with the DCIS diagnosis on the right side.  I had plenty of information behind me when I got the final word.  It understood it was good to be caught that early and that I had the most favorable of outcomes.  I know before I went in for the MRI they said not to freak out if something caused me to be called back but in my mind it was something either more wrong with the right, or something the MRI picked up behind my breast, not the other one.  I do have fluid filled cysts on that side but they have been notated for years now so this threw me off kilter.

 I have a perscription for Ativan that I hadn't filled yet but I'm thinking I need to do that ASAP, the Cymbalta I take for the MS keeps me level headed most days but this is tipping the "loosing it" scale to the wrong side.

THANKS again, I will keep you girls posted.  It is nice to have someone totally GET IT!!!  Some seem to think that since it is early it is just a "little cancer" well I can't be a little prenant so I don't think I can have just a little cancer.....But you girls GET IT, and I thank you for that!

lago

My left breast had one 5.5cm tumor that was75% IDC and 25% DCIS
My right breast had one 1mm tumor that was LCIS

I don't see separate tumor markers for each listed on my path report. I am being treated based on the big sucker in the left breast.

Anonymous

momof3sofar, a mammogram picked up the DCIS in my left breast.  After being scheduled for a masectomy only on the left side, my surgeon requested an MRI of both breasts.  The MRI showed a suspicious spot on the right and after a biopsy, confirmed it was DCIS grade 3, same as the left.  There was absoultely no sign of cancer on the mammogram for my right.  The MRI picks things up differently.  In the end, I'm glad it was found before my masectomomy so I didn't have to relive the cancer all over again years down the line after the cells had multiplied enough to be seen on mammography.  Hang in there, like everyone said, they are usually false positive.  All the best and sending you many hugs.

3monstmama

hey there.  Well I had a lumpectomy for DCIS in my left boobie in February.  This past friday I finally got around to getting my 6th month check-up [okay I'm a coward!].  That mammogram has turned up something funky in the right boobie and because I have already won the breast cancer lottery, the doctor is recommending a stereotopic biopsy instead of what would be a "come back in six months."  At the same time--to make things more confused--the cyst that sent me in for the first mammogram that found the DCI, well it hasn't fully collapsed and he wants that biopsied as well.

In other words, I might have DCIS in both boobies but developing at different times OR I may have DCIS in one boobie and "something else" in the other....

the fun never ends, does it?