Mastecomy vs. Non-Mastectomy

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Mayzee803
Mayzee803 Member Posts: 1
edited June 2014 in IBC (Inflammatory Breast Cancer)

I'm inquiring on behalf of my niece who was just diagnosed with IBC and has had one chemo treatment.  She has a couple of nodes under her arm with cancer.  The plan is chemo, mastectomy and radiation.  Our question is are there are any available statistics regarding mastectomy vs. non-mastectomy, provided the chemo is successful?

 I have read a few articles that say the doctors are not convinced that a mastectomy increases the survival rate, but remain convinced that it should be done because they, frankly, don't know.  She was in Stage III when diagnosed with no evidence of metastasis.

 Anyone know of where I can get statistical information?

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  • SeanE
    SeanE Member Posts: 107
    edited March 2010

    The SEER database has lots of cancer statistics:

    http://seer.cancer.gov/

    That said, my wife is currently being treated for IBC at MD Anderson, which currently has the only IBC-specific clinic in the world.  Our onc said that for IBC, a lumpectomy is NOT an option, because of the involvement of the lymphatics and skin, greatly increasing the likelihood of metastasis should it not be caught by chemo/surgery/radiation.

     Hope this helps.

     Sincerely,

    Sean E.

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  • ibcmets
    ibcmets Member Posts: 4,286
    edited March 2010

    www.ibcsupport.org may have some statitstics for you.  I was diagnosed w/ ibc with bone mets.  My oncologist and a few others do not recommend surgery or radiation for metasticized ibc.  I had 8 chemos, zometa for the bones & currently on hormone inhibitor (Femara). They may recommend surgery if not metasticized.

    Also google anything you can find under ibc cancer and check treatment options or ask for a patient advocate.  Many health facilities, hospitals or insurance carriers offer this to breast cancer patients.

    Good Luck with your treatments

    Terri

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  • germangal
    germangal Member Posts: 97
    edited March 2010

    The current standard of care for Stage III IBC is indeed chemotherapy, mastectomy, radiation and then hormone therapy as indicated by the cancer receptors.I don't have the link to the National Cancer Institute site where this standard is documented readily handy, but I believe you can find it at www.ibcresearch.org. I had my treatments at MGH/Dana Farber, and they followed this standard very closely. I am now 3 years out and doing fine. I had a number of lymph nodes removed, with cancer cells found in 4 of them. There was also some cancer residual in the breast tissue that was removed during the mastectomy, despite clean scans before the surgery, so chemo didn't get them all.

    IBC is not like other breast cancers - it has a different molecular structure and doesn't behave like other breast cancers in the lab (it seems to spread much faster).  So, with this particular cancer, I was afraid to do anything less than the standard  - I wanted to hit it hard with everything they could get. I even went further and did the oopharectomy, since my receptors were estrogen friendly.   

     Hope this helps some - please tell your niece that while this is not a pleasant journey to take, many of us have discovered new friends and new strengths as we did it. And the journey will seem never-ending at times, but she can do it.

     Karen

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