Trying to understand breast cancer

tigerlily6200

This post may seem ridiculous but up until Tuesday I had never even given bc a second thought because it doesn't run in my family and I don't have a visible lump. They only saw something during my first ever mammogram. I am waiting on my u/s guided core biopsy for an approximate 1 cm mass that the radiologist think is benign but order the biopsy to be sure.

So now I am trying to read what I can so that I understand the process and what questions to ask, if I need to ask them. Can anyone clarify this for me: how likely is lymph node involvement? Is it based on the size of the tumor or the type?

Does everyone need a PET scan? I am just trying to figure all the information that is out there, without driving myself mad. Any information will be appreciated.

Runrcrb

There is no one path but size of tumor does not correspond to lymph node involvement.

Your biopsy is the first step (after seeing something in a mammogram or feeling something). Try not to stress until you have a biopsy report. Ask for the report as, if the mass is cancerous, the details will tell you a great deal. Hormone / HER2 receptor status is the big thing to know.

If cancer, my process went this way:

biopsy - > cancer; breast surgeon consult -> breast MRI; two more biopsies; breast surgeon consult, plastic surgeon consult, radiation oncologist consult. Weeks of talking, reading and decision making. Plan of action put in place. Sentinel node biopsy -> cancer evidence. Then medical oncologist consult. This took ~2.5 months total. My treatment course was mastectomy, CT scans for signs of cancer elsewhere, chemo, radiation, aromatase inhibitors, reconstruction. Not all women follow this path or timeline.

Post treatment, I have had a baseline dexa scan (bone density due to the aromatase inhibitor) and a second set of CT scans (surgery prep for one, peace of mind for another); don't expect to do more. I have an annual mammogram on my natural breast.

Anonymous

tigerlily6200, I pray that the mass is benign!

Everyone is different so please keep that in mind with what I'm about to say. Others may differ so it's good to get a reasonable amount of feedback.

Like you, my diagnose of breast cancer in April of this year came as a huge surprise. It was like someone hit me with a brick in the head, which I didn't see coming.

I had surgery July 10, and see surgeon next week (Aug 6th). I've read a massive amount of information, have endless bookmarks in my browser, downloaded pdf flyers, and have gleaned other information in this forum and by speaking with other I know have had breast cancer.

Despite all the taking in of a large amount of information, can't say that I fully understand things as they relate to me...the terminology can be daunting. So I've decided to give it a break until I meet with my surgeon, then an oncologist a few days later. I'm going to expect they explain things in layman's terms. Then I'll do further reading based on what they've told me/what they recommend before making any decisions.

In other words, do research but don't overdo it until you have a better grasp from your physicians about what exactly is going on with YOU.

I will, of course, go in the the doctors' offices with some questions, but I will follow up after I meet with them. I found some very helpful Topic Cards, grouped by topic all in one place. Questions to ask your doctor. I use the search feature at this site to narrow down specific topics.

jenndenino578

Tigerlily, I never thought that much about bc either till I had a mammogram in my 50's and it picked up an architectural distortion in my left breast, it was not palpable. (I'm embarrassed that I never had a mammo till my 50's, but from what I'm reading I am far from being the only woman who hadn't gotten one till a later age). I only went because I felt a cyst in my right breast (turned out to be benign looking, they haven't biopsied it). They're going to do ultrasounds and MRI's annually in the future. It seems that after I went through menopause I ended up with fibrocystic changes in my breasts and I can feels cysts in them when I do my self exams.

I then asked one of my girlfriends if she had ever been called back after a mammogram, she is in her 50's also and she told me she hadn't had one in 20 years because breast cancer doesn't run in her family. (she had a baseline mammo at age 35). I told her maybe she should have one. But then I thought who am I to dispense medical advice? I've done a lot of reading since and mammograms miss plenty of cancers in women who have dense breast tissue. I knew of a woman who had annual mammograms then she found a lump in her breast in between mammograms which turned out to be an aggressive cancer. The mammograms never picked it up, I don't know why. She was someone who worked with my mother.

Now I have to have them in the future every 6 months because of my dx of a radial scar which they removed 5 weeks ago. It was benign thank God but there were atypical cells found in it. So who knows what is coming down the road.

I hope yours is also benign. And it's really good that the radiologist thinks that it is benign, when they found my architectural distortion they did a sonogram right afterward and they were acting like they thought it was going to be malignant although they never said that I could tell they were extremely concerned. And my gynecologist also called my house as I was walking in the door and she kept saying, "I don't want to sugarcoat this, you have to have a biopsy right away." So I think that the radiologist must have told her on the phone that it looked very suspicious for cancer.

I had an ultrasound guided core needle biopsy the next week and the radiologist that did it called me 2 days later and told me it was a radial scar and he didn't see any malignant cells. He knew what it was immediately. I was then referred to a breast surgeon and they removed the whole radial scar. They took out some tissue about the size of a grape according to the breast surgeon who removed it. then they biopsied the entire thing (the tissue that was removed). I got a call 2 days later that there was no "upgrade to dcis" which was what they were concerned about. But I have to be watched very carefully in the future. I am now considered at higher risk due to the radial scar and atypia.

exbrnxgrl

Tigerlily,

Breast cancer is complicated. There are many possibles types of breast cancer, and even within a given type, different hormone profiles. That is a very simplistic explanation, but my point is, breast cancer is far from a single profile disease.

Tumor size and lymph node involvement are not related and breast cancer can metastasize through the blood stream as well as the lymph system. It’s almost impossible to say if lymph nodes are involved at your stage so guessing “likelihood “ is pointless. You mentioned no family history, but the majority of breast cancer patients have no family history .

PET scans are very expensive and expose one to radiation so it’s not usual for someone with suspected early stage bc to have one, but I can’t say it’s never done. My counsel at this point is to not get ahead of yourself. Please wait until you know what you are dealing with (hopefully it’s benign), and then you can learn specifics based on your particular type of bc. Wishing you the best!

mustlovepoodles

There is really little to be gained from playing mind games with a disease you haven't even been diagnosed with. I get that you're trying to feel prepared, just in case. As has been pointed out, breast cancer is not just one disease. It is many diseases with many treatment options.

You don't need to scare yourself needlessly. We have saying here: "Its not cancer until pathology proves it." Don't borrow trouble. There will be plenty of time for investigation, should this indeed be cancer.

MelissaDallas

Since the radiologist said it looks benign I wouldn't be worrying much about a crash course in medicine just yet

tigerlily6200

each of you are right - I was just so unprepared after my other appointment I didn’t want to be that way again:.. but I don’t want to dwell on things I don’t even know yet.

I do appreciate the post from each of you.

Psychfan

Hey Tigerlily - no matter when we hear we getting something tested for that has the word cancer in it we get all freaked out which may make us more freaked out by the time the biopsy gets around which can make us be even scared of the biopsy so we have to try to relax beforehand and after the biopsy to see about hearing news . It's easier to say than to do that's for sure but 80% of masses are benign.

As I'm known to be a over worry wart that would get into anxiety attacks so bad that I would hyperventilate as in freak out which sometimes Dr. Google helps or Dr. google can make it worse . As I was so freaked out about my biopsy when I was going to go thru it . I drank tons of Apple Juice used my sleeping cat mask in hopes that would help me not see what they were doing while laying down and I didn't take any anxiety medicine either . I felt silly afterwards thinking I was going to be screaming in pain during the biopsy but I didn't really feel a thing .

I also didn't want to share with mom that I was going to be getting a biopsy because I was thinking she would be a bit restless with worry because the last time a biopsy happened in our family was when her twin needed one of the liver & pancreas which turned out to be terminal then death took him from us two weeks after his terminal cancer diagnosis.

So crossing fingers for you to have benign results ! When is your biopsy ?