WIFE OPTED NOT TO GO FOR SURGERY/RADIATION

Tigerman

My wife was diagnosed with Stage 4 HER2 Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer in July 2016 The size of the tumor was 4.5cm She had weekly Chemo and Herceptin for 18 weeks. Midway through the 18 weeks the tumor shrunk.

Since January 2017 till now she has been on Herceptin once every three weeks; CT scanned at 6 months interval. She opted not to go for mastectomy surgery or radiation. Oncologist informed surgery or radiation is an option, though preferred. Blood tests results during this maintenance period did not reveal any sign of cancer. Was informed that some patients have been on Herceptin for over 5 years.

I like to know if any women out there who have not opted not to go for surgery and radiation. It would be nice if they could share their story here.

The question that have been bugging us is why is there a need for radiation when mastectomy surgery would have removed the tumor?

Moderators

Hi Tigerman, we're sorry for what you're here, but glad you've found us! Hope you get helpful responses from other stage IV ladies soon. In the mean time, you may want to join also the forum For Family & Caregivers of Loved Ones With a STAGE IV Diagnosis where you can share and support one another through the tough times unique to this diagnosis.

Hope this helps!

The Mods

blainejennifer

Tigerman,

I can't reply to most of your post, because I was diagnosed at Stage 2, and had the surgery and the radiation.

The one point you raise that I know anything about is the need for radiation when you've had surgery to remove the mass: they do it to blast any lurking cancer cells in the area, even if you had clean margins on the excision. The theory is that there might be wee little cells hiding out that the pathologist couldn't see.

There are two schools of thought on the pros and cons of surgery/radiation. 1. Keeping the tumor gives the Onc a great empirical way to monitor treatment efficacy. Simply put, is the mass getting bigger or smaller? 2. Some studies are pointing to longer survival times without the main tumor. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC39223...

I am sure others will chime in soon that have better answers for your questions.

LoriCA

Tigerman, I was diagnosed Stage IV de novo just a few months ago so I probably have more questions than answers, but I'll share my thoughts as to why I would decline surgery/radiation if/when it is offered. It sounds like my cancer is more advanced than your wife's, so I'm sure that my thought process is a bit different.

I started weekly Taxol right after diagnosis and the tumor in my breast has been visibly shrinking, but the cancer is throughout my bones (also my liver) and that is my bigger concern at this point. It's what scares the h*ll out of me when I take time to actually think about it.

My MO initially thought I had maybe two months to live if the tumor didn't respond immediately to treatment. It was growing like wildfire and we needed to stop it before even thinking about shrinking it. Fortunately I had a dramatic and immediate response to chemo, have passed the two month mark, and I'm actually doing well. Everyone was shocked at how quickly I responded to chemo. But my MO still considers me terminal because I'm early into treatment and we don't know if my body will continue to respond so well. I have very little chance of ever achieving "remission". The tumor in my breast has been shrinking, but we won't know about my liver and bones (or any other organs) until my next PET scan in January. If at some point it's decided that the tumor has shrunk enough to make surgery an option, there's no question that I'll decline.

Removing the tumor from my breast won't remove the cancer from my body. I fought hard to get where I am today, my pain is under control and I'm starting to live my "new normal" life. I want to spend what time I have left actually living, making memories and being happy, not in pain and recovering from a surgery that doesn't even remove all of the cancer from my body, no matter how much longer I have left.

Tigerman

Hi LoriCA.

Thank you for sharing your story. My wife did have signs of cancer spread to her upper chest at the time of diagnosed. Blood tests mid-November 2017 and other recent test did show any sign of cancer markers. That is certainly good news. Than again we should not be complacent. She and you seem to have somewhat a similar story. So you should be getting better. And with God's grace both of you are in good hands. Stay strong.