STAGE 1 OR 2 TO STAGE IV?

Pamela44

I posted this in the BRCA category but didn't get a response. So I am reposting it.  I have ovca Stage3C, in remission.  I am close to getting a PBM but am having conflicting thoughts and emotions.  I am turning to my BC sisters for help and advice.

I was told that if I get BRCA with surveillance (MRI alt. with Mammo every 6 months) it is likely the BC would be DCIS or stage I or rarely stage 2 without lymph node involvement, and eminently treatable.  My question is- are there any of you fine ladies that were diagnosed at an early stage and then went on to stage IV,with state of the art treatment, and with or withnot having chemo before?  If so, how long did it take to get to stage IV?  I ask this because I have to balance that with my longevity which might be 8-10 years in the best scene scenario.  Thank you so much for your help.

bak94

I am brca 1 positive. I was diagnosed in 2002 with breast cancer stage 2. I was being watched with mammos and mri's for 5 years after my first diagnoses, then insurance would not pay for mri's, so I was only watched with mammos every year. Mammos missed my second cancer or it grew very fast, so diagnosed a second time with stage 3c breast cancer. Triple negative can grow fast, some tumors seem to pop up over night. I hope you get more responses.

Kathleen26

Breast cancer is really so many diseases that if you got 50 responses and averaged them out, it might not have any connection to what could happen to you.   I'd like to challenge your assertion that "it is likely the BC would be DCIS or stage I or rarely stage 2 without lymph node involvement, and eminently treatable".   Even with MRI/mammo's as you suggest, some breast cancers, especially the triple negative kind that is at the cellular level the most like ovarian cancer, are so aggressive that you could be at stage IV at diagnosis.

Because of an earlier breast cancer, I too was being watched very carefully, and in seven months from a mammogram, had it show up on an MRI along with a 3 cm mass in the axillary region encompassing all the lymph nodes.   And my particular cancer wasn't considered to be all that aggressive at the cellular level. 

Since you've got the BRCA gene, I think you should take this very seriously, with the 85% or so odds of breast cancer you've got.  You know what you've already been through with the Ovarian cancer and what the treatments did to you.  If longevity is your goal, consider that a prophylactic bmx might be a step in the right direction, rather than risk having to degrade your health with breast cancer treatments, and risking metastasis from another direction.

Just something to think about.

QuinnCat

Pamela44 - I responded to your question on the brca thread.