TNBC and confused about pathology report

DallasCowboysFan

Hi. I was diagnosed with stage 3b, triple negative bc. I was told it was highly aggressive. I at first let it go because i thought it was a cyst. I had this tumor for well over a year, and then it ulcerated on my skin. They did a mastectomy, and said the tumor took up over 75% of my breast. Pathology is back and out of 12 lymph nodes zero are affected and no vascular invasion, which is wonderful news, but what are the chances of that? Seems odd to me, and my sister that is a nurse said that any kind of highly aggressive cancer, especially triple neg and that size is next to impossible not to be in one or both of those, and the surgeon seemed confused. What do you make of this? Have you ever heard of that? Wondering if maybe this was actually a benign tumor that i let go so far that it was hard to tell what it actually was

RebzAmy

Hi DallasCowboysFan

I saw nobody has replied yet, but i"m sure you'll get some response. When I have appointments, I get a follow up letter with a summary of what happened at each appointment. I would have thought if you were told what the diagnosis was, then it's correct. Do you have a breast care nurse at the hospital you can clarify the information with?

VL22

I agree with RebzAmy - clarify the information and get a copy of your pathology report. I have seen other TN ladies on here with big tumors and no nodes involved, which is great. What is your follow up treatment plan

Bubblesh

I would look carefully at the pathology report and definitely get a second opinion. Did they get clear margins? What is the KI 67 rate? What treatment plan are they proposing now? What is the grade of the tumour? Are they certain it is triple negative?

Gamble

I had tnbc 14 years ago. Had a 12cm tumor. Lymph nodes were sticky but no cancer. Had 23 nodes removed around arm and chest. Radical mastectomy. 8 sounds of a 3 drug chemo cocktail. I was 40 years old at diagnosis, going strong no sign of recurrence. Feeling blessed. Keep strong and surround yourself with positive loving supportive people.