Just curious (grade 1 cancer)

Nancy2581

Anyone with a grade 1 cancer go through chemo?  What chemo drugs were you given?  Did you have lymph nodes positive?  I am grade 1, premenopausal.  Tumor was 2.8 cm when they told me it was 1.5cm humph.  I have one lymph node positive out of 3 tested.  So I am assuming I will now have to do chemo because of my age (51), size of stupid ass tumor and 1 positive lymph node.  I have not talked to my onco yet since getting the pathology report back.  Believe me I have my list of questions and rants for her.  I see her on Tuesday.

Thanks

Nancy 

exbrnxgrl

Hi Nancy,

I'm probably the wrong person to be responding, since my stats won't be comforting to you. Estimates on tumor size, based on biopsy or imaging, are estimates and it is not uncommon to see a change on the final path report after mx or lx. I had 1 positive sentinel node and ended up with a complete ALND but no other positive nodes. Not entirely sure where things would have gone from there as it was then that my bone met (still grade 1) was found, but if you meet criteria, the oncotype dx test may play onto decisions/recommendations. Wishing you the best.

Nancy2581

Thanks for the info.  I see in your profile you never did chemo or is it just not listed?  Curious - you had a sentinel lymph node biopsy and one node was positive.  How many were taken out at the time?  That is my other concern that now they are going to make me go do a full ALND dissection and I don't want to do it for fear of lymphderma (not sure I am spelling that right).  

exbrnxgrl

Hi Nancy,

During the bmx, when one sentinel node was found to be positive, so they  went ahead and did the alnd,15 nodes all together. Nope, I never did chemo. When my bone met was found, I went straight to Arimidex and Aredia. I recently switched to Femara and have been NED for almost 3 years. I also had rads to the met on my femur. Funny to be stage IV without ever having chemo , but I'm doing fine so I can't argue. No one would ever know I have metastatic bc by looking at me!

Nancy2581

Thanks for the info.  I always thought Grade 1 was suppose to be slow growing non aggressive so I was shocked to see that it had metatasied (I can't spell for beans I give up) for you. Not that it can't I know.  I am sorry, but I am so happy to hear you are doing well.  

Nancy

voraciousreader

Nancy...register at the NCCN's website and read the professional version (red logo) of the breast cancer treatment guidelines.

You don't mention if you are HER 2 Positive or Negative or ER + or -....If you are Her 2 negative AND ER +...then you should have the OncotypeDX DX test.  It will tell you whether the risks of chemo outweigh the benefits.  Also, being 1node positive, if you score low or intermediate on the OncotypeDX test, you are eligible for the RxPonder trial.  That trial is also trying to determine if node positive patients (1-3 nodes) benefit from chemo.

And finally, there are preliminary results from the SOFT and TEXT trials that you should familiarize yourself with if you are HER 2 NEGATIVE AND ER + that is directed towards premenopausal patients.  That study is looking at ovarian suppression and endocrine therapy.

I will also ask that you you ask your physician about Zometa trials.  And finally, you should ask about the ATLAS  and atTom studies as well, again, if you are ER +.

If you are ER positive and HER 2 negative, you will have MANY, MANY options.

Good luck!

voraciousreader

Almost forgot....if you are ER + and HER 2 low ( +1 or +2) you could be eligible for another trial!  That one involves getting chemo followed by either Herceptin or no Herceptin for a year.

Sooooo many choices!

mammalou

I'm not sure that the grade is necessarily always the best thing to look at.  I was grade one but they found the cancer was also in the dermal lymphatic system of my skin.  My surgeon said that was definitely an agressive cancer. I had chemo, MX, rads, Tamoxifen

coraleliz

I had 2 grade 1 tumors. Positive lymph nodes on one side making me stage II. I was given statistics & the decision was left up to me. I asked for the oncotype test & it was low("4"). I chose not to do chemo. I was 52 when diagnosed & not menopausal. If you are truly sitting on the fence, the Rxsponder trial may be something to consider. You'd be helping a lot of not yet diagnosed sisters out in the future. Good luck with the decision making process. I felt really alone during that time. My husband didn't care what I decided, he just wanted me to hurry up & decide. When I tried to explain the situation to friends(many in the medical field), they didn't seem to get the less aggressive nature of my cancer. Proceeding to tell me stories of people they knew with more aggressive tumors.

exbrnxgrl

nancy,

My met was discovered quite by accident, no pain , no symptoms. I believe it is very indolent and slow growing and, had the accidental discovery not happened, years might have gone by before we knew it existed. Or, I would have had chemo and it might have been stopped that way, or not. Neither I nor my doctors will ever know how or when those lazy little cells traveled from my breast or if any more are lurking about, too small to be detected. I don't want to alarm you and I believe I'm an outlier in this situation, not typical at all. Best wishes. 

Nancy2581

I don't even know if I am still grade 1.  When the nurse called friday night at 8:30pm she only told me that 1/3 nodes were positive.  The tumor was 2.8cm (not 1.5cm as originally thought) and that I was stage II.  I asked if it was still grade 1 and she said it doesn't matter anymore you are Stage II.  WTF?  I know no other details and will meet with the onco on Tuesday.  Thanks for all of the help.  

voraciousreader

Nancy....all of the studies I referred to apply to Stage 1 and 2 patients.  That means that nurse that called you is a lousy idiot.  Hang in there!  Please familiarize yourself with all the studies I mentioned.  Knowledge is power!  

Nancy2581

Thank you I will.

Nancy