Radiation for close margin after mastectomy and chemo?

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michelle_nj
michelle_nj Member Posts: 50
edited June 2014 in Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After

Hello Ladies,

I had mastectomy with ILC .7mm away from the deep margin. The pathology report shows multiple tumors LCIS and ILC, classical type, with biggest ILC 3cm. I also had false negative sentinel lymph node dissection (about 30 positive cells) followed by level one and two axillary nodes dissection , with 18 nodes, all negative. I'm 49 yo.
Currently I'm in chemo, just finished ACx4, biweekly and will be getting Taxolx4 biweekly too.
I have an appt with the radiation oncologist next month to see if I really need radiations as my oncologist thinks I‘m in the gray area.
Please help me understand if radiation is necessary in my case. I'm also very interested in your opinions, experiences.

Thank you very much for your help!

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  • GryffinSong
    GryffinSong Member Posts: 439
    edited March 2010

    I thought I was in a gray area too, but I think it depends on your physician. My radiologist said it could go either way, but my new oncologist says he would definately have recommended it, so I'm glad I did.

    My thinking was that I wanted every ounce of preventative that I could get. And other than the inconvenience of being every day, it only takes a few minutes, and the added security and peace of mind feels very worth it to me. Rads aren't bad at all compared to chemo. I got a slight burn, but lots of aloe vera and various lotions got me through. That side looks great now, and you'd never know I'd had it done by my skin condition.

    Hugs and good luck!

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  • smerf
    smerf Member Posts: 615
    edited March 2010

    I had a similar situation, with a 1mm margin at the chest wall. For various reasons, not my choice, I ended up having a lumpectomy rather than a mx. I wanted the most agressive tx after surgery, and had 4AC followed by twelve weekly taxols. First onc I consulted only wanted to do the AC because I had negative nodes. Second onc consult wanted to add the taxol because she considered my tumor to be "large" and wanted more insurance against recurrence. This onc also felt that because of the narrow margins, it would be most prudent to go ahead with rads no matter which surgery I had. The chest wall margin would have been too little even if I had a mx.

    Now I have just passed my 4 year mark, and I'm doing great. It was a lot of tx, but I wanted to know I had done everything possible, and rads were much easier than chemo. I did get some burn, but healed quickly when rads were finished.

    Wishing you the best!

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  • BettyeE
    BettyeE Member Posts: 267
    edited March 2010

    I had almost the same diagnosis as yours.  Large ILC tumor, very close margins.  I also had 9 of 16 postive nodes.  I went to MDA in HOuston and I was not given a choice.  I had 71/2 weeks of radiation.  I'm glad I had the chemo(FEC x 4 and Taxol x12) and the radiation.  I was diagnosed in Oct. of 2006.  NED so far.

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  • weety
    weety Member Posts: 1,163
    edited March 2010

    I had a mastectomy with a 1mm margin and rad-onc recommended radiation to the chest wall.  I just finished it today (27 treatments)  My rad-onc also said I was kind of in the gray area, but with my age (38 at diagnosis) and the grade (3) she really thought I should do it.  I was quite disappointed, because I thought I had escaped the radiation, but. . . did it because I'd rather be able to say later on that I did everything I could have possibly done. . .

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  • michelle_nj
    michelle_nj Member Posts: 50
    edited March 2010
    Thank you very much for your responses. I'm worried that the benefits of radiations, in my case, might be less than the possible long term side effects. And I really don't understand why chemo doesn't destroy the possible cancer cells left behind bmx.

    Somebody recommended me this article on the Research News, about post mastectomy radiation.

    http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/radiation/new_research/20100306b.jsp

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