Stage II - No scans??

Mine doesn't do scans either.  I think that's standard of care for early stage BC.  Statistically, finding it before you are symptomatic doesn't increase lifespan so it's not recommended for early stage.  The extra dose of radiation offsets the value of the test, I guess.

When I'm done with herceptin, my onc will do tumor markers, he says, although he says they are not reliable either.  I guess our bodies are the thing that will tell us if we are the unlucky ones who have it come back.

i am also a stage 2 with microscopic lymph involvement and was also told scans would not be standard follow up care...i have had a few scares and they were very quick to order the appropriate scans....no bloodwork because there are too many false positives, my onco said it is not a reliable indicator and creates unneeded anxiety.   i notice that you are a triple negative, and i think that might change things a bit, maybe check the triple neg thread, and be sure to discuss this with the onco..best of luck

karen

Good evening,

I just posted a simular question on another forum. Here is my story, It is actually my mom who has the cancer. She was diagnosed in may of this year with stage 2A, grade 2, (mitosis rate of 1), node neg, er and pr+ and her-. Her oncologist @ UCSF said no further testing needed. She did DD AC-T. Just last week she met with the radiologist to start rads. He said he is "old school" and wanted a ct of the chest, abd and pelvis along with tumor marker test for base line and staging reasons. Well, today we got the results of her tumor markers back and they are elevated to 45!!!

Normal is under 40. I feel like a maniac i'm so racked with worry... The radiologist said not to worry about it. (Yeah Right) She has her ct scheduled for thursday. By then I will have aged 40 years! So back to the subject on testing- I dont know how I feel about it. It sure can cause ALOT of anxiety!!!! At this point I think I like the Idea of just waiting and going off of symptoms. Especially if it is true and dectecting mets early doesn't change life expectancy. (at least that's how I feel tonight!)- Best of luck and lots of prayers-Jenny

When I was diagnosed I went to the oncologist here in my 'smallish' hometown.  I had a MUGA, PET and breast MRI.  I was scheduled to have a brain scan but canceled it because I ended up getting my port that day instead...after we found out that the cancer was localized I sought a second opinion at a large cancer center in Seattle.  Once meeting with the drs in at SCCA I decided to transfer care to there and started my chemo almost immediately.  After talking with my onc, she explained that I would not have had any scans had I started treatment there because I was a stage IIa.  Now that I am done with chemo and will be starting rads in a few weeks I won't be having any scans, just blood draws with TMs.  I think that with early stage BC the doctors are less likely to do scans.  I am also a TN so I understand your concern, I am hoping that life and anxiety get easier over time  

One thing about tumor marker tests; many doctors don't use them as they are very non-specific and the numbers can jump around a lot (and if they are low, it's not an absolute guarantee that you're OK either). All that being said, my doctor DOES order them. He feels that it is a way to flag potential problems early. If the numbers were to come back crazy high, then he would order other tests.

Melania,

Staging is done on the tumor size and lymph node innvolvement.  If a cancer cell did escape and lodge somewhere, you could be stage IV but it might be a few years before you find out - the tests aren't sophisticated enough to look that deep.  

They go by science and statistics.  Statistically,, women with stage II with your features are unlikely to have metastatic cancer - it's a very small percentage who end up that way.  There is no point in introducing radiation and unnecessary tests with lots of false positives on a woman who is probably cancer-free, and if who isn't, the cancer is too small to detect anyway.

So, you just have to believe you are stage II and once your treatment is done, you will never face cancer again.

The hardest part about this disease is never knowing for sure.  Well, the second hardest part - the hardest part is knowing you ARE stage IV already.

My surgeon did not order any scans and said it would just depend moving forward whether my medical onc will order any or not.  She was more concerned with testing my heart function before I start Herceptin.  To be honest at this point, I don't know if I could handle the stress/worry of the scan results although my SO kept saying "wouldn't you rather know??"

My breast surgeon is the one who diagnosed my TNBC.  All I knew before surgery was that it was a highly aggressive tumor (2.2 cms).  Right before my mastectomy, I had a Sentinal Node Biopsy and he only took 4 nodes out.  They were all negative.  Mine was Stage llA, Grade 3.   Right before I started chemo, the oncologist sent me to have a PET scan which showed the cancer had not spread anywhere else.  After I finished chemo and went back for my 4 month (turned out to be 6 months) check-up, I was a nervous wreck and my oncologist ordered another PET scan.  It was a year after the first one.  It's funny how doctors are different in the different areas of our country, even our continent.  Best wishes to all.    Reese 

I'm a Stage IIb grade 2. I had a PEt/CT scan in February (between the mx and the chemo and another one after I finished chemo - beginning of August. Also, both times I had the tumor markers checked. My onc said that I need to get a PET/CT scan before chemo to make sure that there is nothing else there, and if it was, to have a reference for the after the chemo time. Both scans came back negative, tumor markers 3 and respectively 4. I was amazed my tumor markers didn't go up, as they usually go up with chemo (as they measure dead cancer cells, of course they'd go up) and then I realized "whew, that means there were NO cancer cells to die from chemo". Made me feel soooo much better.

Hi, mine was a grade 2 cancer and they thought they got it all out but the results came back that there are still tiny cancer cells there but none in my lymth nodes, and now he says my best option is a mastectomy,,, how did you cope after yours.... shazza47

I asked my oncologist today about PET or CT scans... how do I know I am only stage II??? And the answer is the same as those above, that the risk of extra radiation doesn't merit the scans. Even having micromets in my sentinel node didn't warrant the scans, he says... He also said that my chemo is for killing any floating cancer cells. So, I believe him and will just go scanless into my chemo.

On another note, I did have a pelvic ultrasound to check my ovaries, and had the CA-125 test. Blood test was borderline, but unreliable, and ultrasound was clear.