More than 1?

Kcscared

I'm posting about my aunt not myself, wondering if you ladies can help me, back in late December bad mammo followed by biopsy, same drill, positive for bc, onc and bs thought early stage cancer, partial mastectomy followed by rads, today the results in they found 3 tumors ( only knew about 2), I still don't know the type of cancer or stage and she was despondent when we spoke so I just didn't ask again. They need to go back in for the third which they thought was something else but turned out to be cancer and a different kind than the others? Lymphs also positive so now chemo. Long and short is now they want whole body scan another surgery and chemo poss double mastectomy my question is this indicative of a stage 4 diagnosis? Is this other tumor maybe not bc? We're freaking out

Meow13

So sorry to hear this, it is scary. They are probably doing the MRI to make sure there is no cancer metatised to distant areas. Things will get better once they know what they are dealing with.

Smurfette26

Sorry to hear of your Aunt's diagnosis.

Hope this link to info on staging helps:

http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/sta...

Having a multifocal cancer and/or lymph node involvement does not automatically mean a Stage 4 diagnosis. There are other factors to consider such as tumour size, how many nodes are positive etc

I was aware before my surgery that my cancer was multifocal and my surgeon strongly recommended a mastectomy. After seeing the post surgery pathology this was definitely the right surgical choice.

Once your Aunt has a treatment plan in place things do get a little easier. I wish her well.

new2bc

They found 3 small tumors in my left breast after my mastectomy even though the breast surgeon was thinking there is only one. She told me she is glad I chose mastectomy after the surgery. A pet scan will hopefully put your mind at ease. Having several tumors does not mean that it has metastasized but it is best to do mastectomy. This period of waiting and testing is the hardest part of the diagnosis because our mind is thinking about the worst case. I wish your aunt the best of luck.

Kcscared

Thank you for those responses, is it common to have more than one cancer in the same breast? 2 were the same and one was different

april485

Yes, my understanding is that there can be several sub-types of breast cancer in the same breast. One may be IDC (invasive ductal), another DCIS (stage 0 and non-invasive) and another may be ILC (lobular as opposed to ductal) so it is not that uncommon for them to find more than one type at pathology. Her treatment will be based on the most serious and with nodal involvement, it will most likely involve chemo but it does not mean that she is terminal by any means or that she is stage IV. Hugs and wait until you get more information.

LisaAlissa

If your aunt wants you to help her, talk to her docs, etc. (and you are willing to do so), you might ask her if she wants to add your name to her HIPPA forms w/ her docs offices/health service provider. That would allow you to get copies of reports, etc.

Just an idea (which might be completely out of the question..but you never know!)

LisaAlissa

Kcscared

Thank you for the answers, mri today hopefully some good news