Treatment for the secondary cancer

georgia67

I don't know if any of you have read this but it might give you something to look into and think about.  http://www.11alive.com/ext/news/nation-now/wifes-death-led-him-to-discover-what-may-be-a-better-breast-cancer-treatment/85/nationnow/38aSBJMzdCgsGia08GiqM6

blainejennifer

Thank you! What folk don't realize is that most biopsies don't get a picture of the whole mass biopsied (unless you have excised tissue - as in a mastectomy - to slice and dice). A lot of breast cancer tumors are a mix of various grades and pathologies. So, an FNA or a core biopsy can land on a triple neg patch, while an ER+ bit is a millimeter away.

At least that's what an oncologist explained to me when I asked how the heck someone with a Grade 1 pathology could progress to Stage 4. I had always been taught that Grade 1 is highly indolent, and that a woman could die of old age before Grade 1 got up to anything. It was his opinion that the biopsy must have gotten a snip of Grade 1, and missed a scarier patch.

I would be very interested to hear of someone whose entire mass in early diagnosis was Grade 1, and then progressed onto Stage 4. I'm sure it's happened. When I was taught these things, Grade 1 was rather a "Get Out of Jail Free" card. But, I am older, and - thank the Gods - breast cancer research has grown exponentially.

50sgirl

Thank you for posting the link. It is an intriguing article, and I look forward to seeing the results of studies on larger populations. It is disconcerting and scary to think that many people who have secondary tumors whose characteristics differ from the primary are being given inappropriate treatments. We are all happy when people have biopsies of new tumors, but now I have to wonder................It is so difficult for some of us to find medications that work for us. This is one more thing that must be considered. Ugh!

Lynne

Heidihill

Ugh is right, 50sgirl. The best teatments in the world aren't worth anything if the diagnosis is faulty. What is driving the cancer? Is it still the mothership telling the mutant babies what to do? Maybe when the babies come of age they do whatever they want? Do they ever go back home and influence their native environment? So many questions. Thanks for the link, Georgia.

Fitztwins

What bothers me also is that insurance won't let us try different drugs because of our pathology. I am a triple +++ and often get turned down for hormone + her2 neg drugs. Cancer is a tricky beast.