What influences breast recurrence

trustinGod

I am very confused.

I told my onco surgeon as I have grade 3 cells and being her2+, oest and prog positive. I thought I was high risk for breast recurrence and having a mastectomy would lessen my chances of a breast recurrence.

He said that this is unrelated to it coming back in the breast and that this is more related to it coming back else where in the body and that the greatest risk of it coming back in the breast is whether it is close to a certain margin in the breast.

 I always thought grade 3 cells meant high risk of recurrence in the breast.

Can anyone shed light on this please.

sweetbean

No, if you are high risk for recurrence, it means you are high risk for distant recurrence,  I believe.  Having a mastectomy drastically reduces your risk for a breast recurrence, obviously, but doesn't change your risk for a distant recurrence.  Have you read "Anti-Cancer: A New Way of Life?"  It's a great book by David Servan-Schrieber.  Good stuff!

trustinGod

Hi

I'm really suprised at that, I always thought grade 3 and her2+ meant more chance of having recurrence in the breast.

I was also told if I had a mastectomy I had 1% chance of recurrence and if I had lumpectomy I had 5% chance of breast recurrence.

Still not sure which way to go.

trustinGod

Sorry, I should add that is.... 5% recurrence if treatment is lumpectomy and radiation

 Anyone else got views on this?

Slainte

I believe that one factor affecting local reoccurrence is multiple sites of tumor. I chose mastectomy, and when the tissue was analyzed another area of IDC was identified. It was very small and not detected on mammogram or ultra sound. If I had had a lumpectomy with radiation there is a chance that area would not have been eliminated by radiation and may have grown. It would have been called a local reoccurrence .



Christine