Lymph nodes after neoadjunctive chemo

libby2002

Hello -

I had neoadjuvant chemo and had 4 positive nodes AFTER chemo. All the scans had only showed one node + . I am wondering if other nodes had cleared due to chemo if there would be scarring to show that cancer HAD been there. 4 positive nodes are bad enough, but my fear is that there were even more.

Lulu44

hi, I’m just seeing this but a similar thing happened to me. I had neoadjuvant chemo and they said no node involvement but then they found one that was + and my surgeon took 5 total because the other 4 “felt hard” and “seemed abnormal.” So I have asked every specialist about what happens to tissue (whether it be lymph node or organ tissue) in which cancer was present and then obliterated due to chemotherapy. I hate to say it but nobody had a definitive answer. My oncologist said, “great question” as she walked out of the room lol. I ended up asking the liver specialists I’ve seen because my liver sustained some damage from treatment. They weren’t sure either. It’s frustrating to not know. I wish they did a better job of checking the lymph nodes prior to neoadjuvant chemo so we could have more accurate staging. Please let me know if you get an answer. I’m sorry that you’re going through this. Sending u hugs through the phone xo

Tish