Not all breast tumors are "Slow Growing"

paloverde

Group - I am being treated for Stage IV, so I get CT scans with measurements of things that are larger than they should be.

In a chest CT scan on Aug 18 of this year, the largest of my liver tumors was measured at 5.0 cm x 3.2 cm. In an abdominal CT scan on Aug 30, the same tumor was measured at 5.3 cm x 4.5 cm. Using formulas for calculating volume of an ellipsoid (fancy mathy name for egg), that tumor went from 27 cc to 56 cc, or essentially doubled in volume, in less than 2 weeks! It is ER-/PR-/HER2+, Grade 3. I don't know the Ki-67.

But do NOT let doctors tell you all breast tumors are slow growing. That can be just CYA for missing it the first time, or not wanting to be rushed into scheduling surgery. Listen to your bodies and what you can see with your own eyes.

BTW, after 9 weeks of chemo, that bad boy is down to 6 cc. The meanest tumors are often the most susceptible to the chemo. Best wishes to you all.

tlgio17

Thanks for the info, I was wondering about that myself when dr said, good news is your tumor is slow growing. Been anxious to get my surgery scheduled, etc.

Wishing you well with your fight and glad to hear tumor has gotten smaller!

Jelson

thanks for sharing paloverde and please continue to kick those bad boys back into the gutter where they belong!

LeslieMemsicMD

Good luck to you as you fight your disease! And congrats on your shrinking liver tumor. Each breast cancer tumor is different with regards to its growth pattern and while the aggressiveness of a tumor can be predicted somewhat by its biological characteristics ( estrogen and progesterone receptor positivity, lymph node involvement, her 2 neu overexpression, Ki67 and onco type) we certainly do not have all the answers. I agree that treatment for all tumors (even "slow growing" ones) should be started promptly - as long as all the therapeutic options have been thoroughly explained and understood so that treatment plan is based on fact and not fear. Good luck and take care.