I don't get it

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Pure
Pure Member Posts: 1,796
edited June 2014 in Stage III Breast Cancer

I don't get how women with good odds get reoccurences. You hear about how nodes are so important in terms of odds but when I look people are all over the place with their stats. I know triple neg and her 2 can add to that risk but it seems there is no ryme or reason to people reoccuring. I don't get it!

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  • ElaineD
    ElaineD Member Posts: 2,265
    edited December 2009

    Lol-you've summed it up perfectly-there is no rhyme nor reason to it! Our oncs would love to have an accurate way of predicting who will go on to develop mets!

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  • everyminute
    everyminute Member Posts: 1,805
    edited December 2009

    its a crap shoot - stats are just generalizations

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  • Marple
    Marple Member Posts: 19,143
    edited December 2009

    I think we all look for reassurance that it won't recur in us as individuals.......but there is no guarantee no matter how good our pathology is.  There are just too many variables.

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  • KerryMac
    KerryMac Member Posts: 3,529
    edited December 2009

    It is all down to if you respond or not.

    None of it makes sense - some people have small tumors, lots of nodes, some others have enormous tumors, no nodes (I have a friend who had a 12cm ILC, no nodes) Some people with very good prognosis don't do well, others who should not do well never have an issue again.

    It was very freeing for me to grasp this concept - that no-one, not even my Doctors, have any clue whether or not I will be OK. Sort of helped me give up control a bit - I just think I have done all I can, what will be will be.

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  • pip57
    pip57 Member Posts: 12,401
    edited December 2009

    Lymph nodes are just one set of nodes.  They can now check them out using several methods, some more reliable than others.  For example, scans may show nothing but the pathology after surgery will indicate cancerous cells.  There are also nodes in your neck and chest that they cannot accurately dx or tx.  They are still unknowns.

    Another reason is that we probably know very little about the true nature of cancer.  So we tend to generalize.  There are so many components that individualize cancer and its progression, so that these generalizations are the best we can do right now.  

    Although we tend to rely on lymph node status, grade, type and size to determine tx and outcome, there is a lot of other info in our pathology reports that the doctors take into consideration.  And then there are all the unknowns.... 

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  • weesa
    weesa Member Posts: 707
    edited December 2009

    Hopefully, the strides made recently with OncotypeDx and Mammaprint (Oncotype looks at 22 feautures and combinations and Mammaprint about 60) will show that we can make some sense out of who has a recurrence and who doesn't.

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  • caaclark
    caaclark Member Posts: 936
    edited December 2009

    Crap shoot.  It is the million dollar question-why some with early stage end up with recurrence.  My onc told me once (when I was freaking out) that he has lots of women who were stage III that are over 15 years out with no issues.  He has others diagnosed as stage I who have since died of mets.  We just don't know.  For me it makes me think I have just as good a chance as those with no nodes and early stage.  Sort of levels the playing field.  It's the only way to look at it for me.

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  • TammyLou
    TammyLou Member Posts: 740
    edited December 2009

    My best understanding is that certain cancers have the ability to circulate through the bloodstream and survive/build colonies in organs and bones....and others, less so.

    Having lymph node involvement is often interpreted as a sign that the cancer has the ability to circulate and grow in organs/bones.

    However, that is only a sign.  Rarely, there are breast cancers that don't "like" lymph nodes...and they don't inhabit them.,,they prefer and inhabit organs and bones immediately, regardless of primary cancer size.

    Most commonly, lymph node positive cancers are associated with more aggressive disease and small breast tumors without involvement are associated with less aggressive.

    The critical issue is that cancer doesn't always follow the rules.

    tl 

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  • Pure
    Pure Member Posts: 1,796
    edited December 2009

    yeah when you read stage 4 forums you expect to see girl after girl with tons of nodes-you don't though. The node involvement is all over. There tends to be a lot of her 2 pos and triple neg but the node amount is all over the place.

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  • KerryMac
    KerryMac Member Posts: 3,529
    edited December 2009

    I do think it is not uncommon as well for a Stage 2 girl to think she is "in the clear" as she had no nodes, so maybe isn't as aggressive in treatment, or in taking their Tamox/AI. Remember, hormonal treatment has a 40% non-compliance rate - and I am not sure many of us would risk not taking our pills....

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  • keno41
    keno41 Member Posts: 91
    edited December 2009

    KerryMac makes a very good point. I agree that early stagers may be less aggressive or lulled into a false sense of secrity and don't take all of the treatment that they need, even as a precaution.

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