Just DX. Confused Abouth Pathology!

Margot62

Hello All,

I’m sorry we are all in the same boat and I thank you in advance for any information you can offer. I don’t understand my pathology report and the books I bought aren’t very helpful either. I’m hoping someone can shine a little light!

Here’s my diagnosis:

*Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Grade 2

*DCIS Solid and Cribriform Patterns Grade 2

So, does this mean the cancer in the duct spread into the tissue? I was told by the radiologist during the biopsy the tumor was only 4mm. Very tiny. I’m so confused about having two diagnosis in the report.

No staging was given. Is that because you aren’t staged until after surgery? Or are grades and stages the same thing?

*I’m ER positive with a score of 8

*Im progesterone positive with a score of 6-7

*my K1-67 is 10-15%

*Her2 is still pending.

Is it great that the tumor is so tiny or is it more about what the tumor shows? Is this two-pronged diagnosis a truly bad thing?

Thanks for any help you can offer!

CindyNY

Margot62 - take a deep breath, and exhale. It's all very overwhelming at first.

DCIS is still located in the duct; IDC is where cancer cells have broken thru the duct - invaded outside the duct. I too had both, and from reading others info, so have a lot of other women.

The grade is 1, 2 or 3. I too was a grade 2. Laymens terms, I don't have my notes in front of me , nor am I in the medical field. Grade one is a slow growing grade, 2 more intermediate, whereas grade 3 is faster growing.

ER+, PR+, and HER- : I believe are the most common. You'll know more when your HER status comes back.

Staging - I think based on your size tumor it would be 1, but yes it can change after pathology from surgery. And again I don't have my notes.

I'll suggest you start a note book, write down all your info that you know. And all the questions you have. It helps to have someone with you when you go to appointments, they confirm with you on what you heard from the doctor.

I hope I've helped you some. Best of luck to you. Keep us posted.

Elephant

Margot62 - neither my biopsy report nor the pathology report showed the stage. I asked my BS what the stage was which was before the surgery. I think that maybe the grade is more important because it shows how aggressive the cancer may be. The pathology report that you get after the surgery can be different from the biopsy, mine was, because for the biopsy they are just getting a sample of the cancer cells whereas with the pathology report they can analyze the cancer as a whole. I agree with CindyNY, write down all your questions as you think of them. I had about 3 pages of questions when I had my first BS visit. Best of luck.

Rah2464

Margot62 - you will complete your staging process after surgery. The final size of the tumor will be determined, as well as final pathology of the entire mass. Because IDC was also present, your BS is going to talk about how to evaluate your lymph node status on your BC side. If your tumor is truly that small, there may not be enough tissue to evaluate for the Onconotype DX or Mammoprint testing, be sure to ask about that. Those are aggressiveness tests that help indicate how much treatment you may need to do after you remove the cancer. Wishing you luck as you begin this journey.