Circulating Tumor Cells

bluepearl

Has anyone heard of what one's chances are of having CTCs when diagnosed with stage 1 (less than1 cm)? Seems like another thing for me to worry about.

Lily55

everyone who has had cancer will have circulating tumor stem cells, the challenge is keeping them inactive and not stimulating them with their growth factors.  

bluepearl

That's not what I am understanding. Even 1 tumor cell (per liter of blood I think) is one too many and women (most) who have none (even after breast cancer) do better than those with 1 and the prognosis gets worse as the numbers climbs. Apparently not much is there to identify them except thru blood tests......not size, not grades, not hormone receptors + or -, nor + or - Her2. I read a bit more papers on this and found my answer to my own question. I think there was a slightly greater chance with + nodes, but not much. So, 24% have them.....which may be why cancer returns later as well as sooner. Grrrr. New vaccine in trials now that stops vessel growth of cancer tumors....hope THIS pans out!!!!!

Timbuktu

My mother had cancer at 65.  She had a mastectomy and was told her nodes were clean so she needed no further treatment.  At 80 the cancer came back in her lungs but by that time they had Tamoxifin, which shrinked the tumors.  I was discussing this with my onco.  She said that the cells went dormant and only started growing again 15 years later.  She said chemo only works on actively growing cells so even if she had chemo, it probably would not have helped her.

I'm also skeptical of clean nodes.  I think they can take 1000 slices of one node but only take a sample.  Also, I was told I had clean nodes but when I sent the slides for a second opinion they interpreted it different and said I had a micromet.  This is all so subjective it's unbelievable.  Pathologists argue about such things.  So I really don't take "clean nodes" as anything written in stone.  Anyway, there are still many nodes left in the body.  

This disease is such a sneaky miserable thing.  I've never liked uncertainty but i have to learn to live with it, there is just no alternative.  I once said to an onco at a major hospital "I just hope I live to see a cure."

She said "Lots of women are cured of breast cancer every day!"  What a nice thought!