Lcis found after bilateral mastectomy

Scared462016

Hello everyone. I'm just a lost wreck. I had a BMX 2 weeks ago and recovery has been physically and emotionally draining so far. I received my pathology report. They found lcis in left breast low grade which was not seen before. Oncology surgeon says not to worry nothing to do. I'm not sure what I'm suppose to do. Who is in charge of me now? I'm scared and wondering how I can have lcis after bmx. How can I be vigilant for my own health? Thank you all for your time

Luckynumber47

So sorry you are going through this. Such a challenging time. Trust me, it gets better every day.

Am I understanding your post correctly - you had a BMX and when they analyzed that tissue they found a small, very early, stage 0 cancer they hadn't seen before? This should make you happy you decided to do BMX, there's no chance of anything else lurking. Did they do a SNB on the left side or was this strictly prophylactic

It's my understanding that this doesn't change your treatment plan, you can go on as if it was never there.

ChiSandy

Though it is still pretty much agreed that DCIS is still “cancer,” there is a growing body of opinion that LCIS is not, but is rather a risk factor for invasive disease. That it was in a breast you no longer have and did not spread to any nodes should set your mind at ease and as Luckynumber47 says, proceed with any pre-existing treatment plan (or no plan at all, if the BMX was all there needed to be done).

Scared462016

lucky number.: Thank you for responding. the right mastectomy was prophylactic the left side was not(dcis unable to get out with two lumpectomies)The Dr said there is lcis remaining in left breast and that's what is scaring me. Why didn't mastectomy get everything? It feels like i have a cloud over my head waiting to rain. I feel like I have a time limit on my life before lcis becomes invasive. Dr said nothing to worry about but I'm very emotional the last 2 weeks and this result had made me worse.

Luckynumber47

I'm still not sure I understand what is going on and maybe someone else will chime in here and give you a better answer.

Are you thinking they found lcis during your BMX but didn't remove it? My limited understanding is that by definition, the BMX takes all the breast tissue, leaving no visable cancer behind. Is it possible your dr found lcis during surgery that they weren't expecting but they took it out with everything else and maybe he just didn't explain it very well? Why don't you give him a call and have him go over your results again.

leaf

I am a bit confused too. It is impossible to remove ALL breast tissue in a mastectomy. There are always breast cells left behind. Breast cells are microscopic and not visible by the naked eye.

LCIS is normally not visible by the naked eye, and requires a pathologist looking at a piece of tissue under the microscope to diagnose.

Perhaps they found some LCIS at the margins of the mastectomy specimen? As others have said, I'd double check with your doc and go over your pathology report again.

If so, I would not freak. Most LCIS is multifocal, meaning there are several spots of it in a breast, and often bilateral (in both breasts). Although it is thought that some LCIS spots will go on to become breast cancer, most will not. Unless you have other risk factors, such as a severe family history of breast/ovarian cancer, a known history of a deleterious gene associated with breast cancer (example: BRCA), a history of chest radiation TREATMENT, or high radiation exposure (such as to reactor breakdown), the majority of LCIS women (who don't have anything worse than LCIS) NEVER go on to get breast cancer. In other words, the majority of LCIS women without these larger risk factors NEVER go on to get breast cancer.

If a woman is treated with bilateral mastectomies FOR LCIS (which usually only happens in high risk women), they normally don't do any other treatment. Many women with known LCIS get one LCIS spot removed, and that's all, knowing fully well there there is a big chance there are other LCIS lesions remaining in one or both breasts.

Again, as others have said, I'd go over your pathology report again with your doc. You should be able to get a written copy of your pathology report too.