Why didn't mom have radiation?

mkkjd60

My mom passed away 2 years ago from bc. She was 73. She was stage 2B at age 66, er/pr pos, her neg. She was multifocal as there were 2 lumps in her left breast. 2 nodes were affected. She had a mastectomy followed by ACT chemo. then she was put on arimidex. She was metastatic 5 years later. I have always wondered why they never recommended radiation. I know I shouldn't go over and over it in my mind...what ifs....but I do. Can anyone shed light on why radiation was not recommended? Thank you.

Stacy7

My understanding is that radiation is offered only after partial mastectomy.. That is probably why although im sure someone else will answer to this more surely, im very sorry about your mom hugs

ksusan

I can't answer your question, but a mastectomy doesn't rule out radiation treatment.

Chris13

With a mastectomy, there would be little or nothing to radiate. Very rare cases can have some cancer left in the chest walls, but that is VERY rare. Don't beat yourself up wondering "what if." So sorry to hear your mom did pass on.

Spookiesmom

Had bmx, 32 rads on "bad" side.

inks

So sorry you have lost your mom to breast cancer.

Radiation after mastectomy is generally indicated for positive margins, lympho vasular invasion, extranodal extension, no axillary clearance, tumor close to chest wall, skin involment, multifocal or multicentric disease (there may be some other reasons, I am not a doctor). Radiation can minimize only locoregional failure. Did your mom have a locoregional failure (recurrence near the breast) before she was found to have metastatic disease?

ksusan

Chris, with all due respect, after mastectomy the skin, scar, armpit, chest wall, and supraclavicular field can be radiated. I'm sitting here right now having just finished 33 radiation treatments after mastectomy, and it's not uncommon.

KBeee

First of all, I am sorry abut the loss of your mom. It was pretty common practice years back to not use radiation with mastectomy unless there were 5 or more nodes affected. This has changes and protocols are more aggressively using it now for situations such as close margins, any positive nodes, lymphovascular invasion, or large tumor size.

SoCalLisa

So sorry about your Mom. I had a mastectomy with similar history in 2001. They didn't do radiation after a mastectomy back then unless there were other circumstances. I didn't receive any

Kicks

Only her Drs can give you answers as to why she didn't have rads. Perhaps she refused them?

We are each so unique and what TX is appropriate for one of us is not for ALL. There may have been other health issues that came into play..We can only each tell you what our TX plan was not why your Mom had her TX plan.

For me - I did neoadjuvant chemo, UMX, adjuvant chemo and rads but that was me - others are very different.