Rads question

Hi there.  I had the same questions.  My onc, my surgeon and a rads dr all told me that they did not recommend rads because I didn't have 4 or more pos nodes.  I have always been concerned with this.

Teresa

I must be old school (three years ago) they did rads over complete auxiliary area.  They told me just in case there is anything left behind. This is a good questions...I curious what other have done. Has it changed?

Flalady

I had rads only over complete breast and then 5 boosts to tumor/scar area..did not have rads over axillary area...only 2 nodes were removed and both negative. Doctor said there was no reason to have rads in armpit.

I had one positive sentinode and got axillary rads and breast rads plus boosts to tumor scar.

Hello Frenchie,

My wife Lynne had high dose radiation over the entire area (arm, shoulder, neck, breast) after AC and then weekly Taxol, before radical surgery and all the nodes were removed.  After surgery with the margins clear she did another 12 weeks of Taxol with Carbo.    Eight months later she has a fast growing Grade 3 Trip - tumor under the arm that had all this treatment.

Surgeons will not operate again due to scans showing nodules in the lungs.  We met with the radiation panel today and they agreed to not rule out radiation again even though they all say she is at/over her limit.   

So if your going thru radiation I would suggest you consider having them hit every area aggressively, in my opinion being trip - warrants the extra precaution.

We will be putting our hopes now on Chemo and prayers not necessarily that order while we continue to wait for biopsy results from the lung.

Best of luck to you,

Paul and Lynne

 The hell started     May 07   Trip -  Grade 3 Stage 3b IBC IDC

We had a radigoloist as a speaker this weekend at our support group meeting.  She was all for everyone getting rads.  Again as in most treatments your chances of it helping you is about 30%.

But this is another side too the story.  Two years ago I had my IBC in remission with a couple of nodes in the chestwall.  So I was sent to my local research hospital and did a surgery trial with a PET Probe to look for this nodes.  After having this done I spoke with the head of bc surgery for this clinic.  He told my rads do some good things as in keeping a recurrence more local for a longer period of time because the damaged tissue in the area makes a net to hold the cancer cells into one area longer. The bigger problem is if you have a recurrence to this area, chemo will have a harder time delivering enough chemo back into this area because of damaged blood supply and tissue.

So it's another point of damn if you do and damn if you don't. 

Flalady

Hi Frenchie.  My wife also had 2 nodes positive - similar situation as you but 3 cm tumor.  We consulted two radiation oncologists and they both recommended radiation in the axilla and also into the clavicle area.  We were told there have been some studies overseas supporting radiation of the axilla nodes in pre-menopausal women with less than 4 nodes positive.  They did mention the increased lymphedema risk but felt the benefit outweighed the risk for her.

Hello, Frenchie and TNHusband,

Just wanted to suggest some simple lymphedema risk reduction precautions that your doctors may not have found the time to share with you:

http://www.stepup-speakout.org/riskreduction_for_lymphedema.htm

Best bet by far, though, is a referral now to a well-trained lymphedema therapist for baseline arm measurements, individualized help with risk reduction, learning a gentle prophylactic lymphatic massage, and fitting for a compression sleeve and glove or gauntlet (fingerless glove) to wear following each rads treatment and for travel or exercise. Here's information on finding a well-qualified lymphedema therapist near you:

http://www.stepup-speakout.org/Finding_a_Qualified_Lymphedema_Therapist.htm

Please pass along some gentle (((hugs!)))
Binney

How long is it usually to start the rads after chemo?