positive nodes/treatment with chemo

kika2013

Hi all. I am having SNB this week and am wondering if others can share their treatment plans with me. We don't know if nodes are positive yet, but one surgeon has said she very much doubts chemo will be recommended, while another has said because of my age (42), if they find anything in even one node I will do chemo and radiation. Does this seem like overkill? I know current recommendations have changed but this one surgeon seems very focused on my age as the primary driving factor for treatment. From what we know now I have early/well-differentiated cancer that is a low grade and is very small (8mm). Just curious to hear others thoughts.

wyllikers

The plan with my oncologist was that chemo may not be necessary if my nodes were clear, which they assumed they would be by the way they felt, but with any cancer in my nodes, we would go straight to chemo.  Two of my nodes were positive (1.1 cm tumor in one, .6 cm tumor in another) out of 18 removed, so I started chemo last week.  Once chemo is over, I'll have radiation, then five to ten years on hormonal therapy.  My oncologist described the treatment as surgery is the first paper towel, to remove most of the mess and the chemo is the second paper towel, getting what was left behind.

I wish you all the best!

LW0919

Hi Kika. I'm 41 and found that depending on our age does determine how aggressive they are with the treatment plan. My mammogram and ultrasound both showed clean nodes. My surgeon and MO both were very surprised when the final pathology came back with one of the sentinel nodes came back as positive with a 4mm macromet.

My treatment plan then became 6 rounds of TC, 33 rounds of radiation and 10 years of Tamoxifen. I completed chemo on June 6th and have just begun radiation.



I hope the decision is easier for you and that your nodes all come back clean!

kika2013

Thanks to both of you for replying. LW0919, wondering if you had an MRI? My 8mm lump didn't even show up on a mammogram, so I have no faith in that as a good diagnostic tool for me! But I also had ultrasound and an MRI, neither of which showed anything. I think because of the kind of cancer I have, there is a low chance it has travelled, but obviously there's always a chance. How did the chemo go for you? And congrats on being done with it--what a huge hurdle to have gotten over.