How fast does this cancer really grow?

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Tg5471530
Tg5471530 Member Posts: 111
edited June 2014 in Stage III Breast Cancer

Here is a little history which will explain why I ask this question.  I am 36 and was diagnosed in May 2010.  I found the tumor myself.  But in March I was in an eating disorder unit for 2 wks and they did a full medical exam.  I very clearly remember the Dr. doing a breast exam on me.  He never mentioned feeling anything abmormal.  I was very underweight and have very small breast too, so it wouldnt be hard to feel something, if there.  Now remember, this exam was done the second wk of March.  Somewhere around the 1st wk in April I noticed a fairly large lump in my left breast.  Two wks later a lymph node felt swollen so I had my Stepmother check them out.  She was very concerned because of how noticeable the lump in my breast was.  The next day I made a Dr. Apt.  I had mammogram and ultrasound on April 29th that found at least a 3 cm lump.  By the time I started chemo June 2, the tumor was 4 cm and they also found another tumor in the same breast.  Looking back at all of this I am wondering if I just had a really fast growing cancer (ILC and IDC, er/pr +, her-) or if that Dr who checked me at the hospital back in March did feel something, but didnt say anything.  And if he had said something would I not be dealing with a stage 3 diagnosis?

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  • lisaattheshore
    lisaattheshore Member Posts: 110
    edited September 2010

    Did you have surgery?  I wasn't sure.  Sometimes the size once they get it out is different from the size they think it is. 

    Mine seemed to appear overnight, but the doctors said that there was a lot of inflamation around it, which was what made me able to see/feel it.  Otherwise I would not have found it.

    HER- is the slower growing of the two options.  It seems unlikely that the tumors could grow that quickly, but in the circumstances you describe it does seem like the doctor would have noticed.  Did you notice anything ever before?

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  • diana50
    diana50 Member Posts: 2,134
    edited September 2010

    cancer grows according to the pathology of it. i know my cancer was 100 percent estrogen and estrogen was fueling it....and i was wearing an estrogen patch as i was post mennapausal. i think the growth rate depends on a lot of factors....the cellular structure...etc. there is no one answer to your question. the cancers are all so different.

    sorry you joined us. the good news is that there is great treatment out there for breast cancer.hope you are hanging in there*

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  • jenn3
    jenn3 Member Posts: 3,316
    edited September 2010

    tammyg - Like Diana said the growth rate depends on a lot of different factors.  I know that the dr that gave you the full exam upon entering the hospital should know the difference and maybe he didn't notice the lump or didn't do the exam properly - it's really hard to tell at this point.  My guess is that you have a fast growing tumor. 

    I'm sorry you had to find your way here, but welcome to the place we all wish were weren't.

    (((hugs)))

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  • Tg5471530
    Tg5471530 Member Posts: 111
    edited September 2010

    Thank you all for your responses.  Sorry I didnt mention it, no I have not had my surgery yet.  They wanted to shrink the tumor first so I did dose dense chemo.  My last chemo was almost 3 wks ago and I had an MRI last wk.  They said that the secondary tumor in my left breast and the precancerous grouping in my right breast are gone.  The larger tumor is much smaller but they do still see cancer.  I will be having a bilat-mast with expanders next Tues.  Wish me luck!

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  • Tg5471530
    Tg5471530 Member Posts: 111
    edited September 2010
    lisaattheshore - I noticed you are from NJ.  Do you live near Great Adventure?  This Sunday I am walking in Susan Koman walk for the cure there.  I wanted to do the one for Philly but that one is a 3 day 60 mile walk and is too close to my surgery date.  I am totally looking forward to Sunday.
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  • lago
    lago Member Posts: 17,186
    edited September 2010

    Cancer doesn't grow that fast, even fast growning ones like the one I had. I had my annual gyno exam April 30th. Gyno found nothing.

    5 weeks later I had discharge and had my mammogram/ultra sound the next day. Ends up I had a 5.5cm lump in my A cup breast. How the hell did my gyno miss that. In my case my breast tissue is very dense. That might have been part of the problem… but the technician doing the ultra sound flipped when she felt this "hard area".

    Yes sometimes they miss in the physical exam. BTW I fired my gyno.

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  • lisaattheshore
    lisaattheshore Member Posts: 110
    edited September 2010

    Hi Tammyg, closer to Atlantic City.  Good luck in the walk!

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  • lisaattheshore
    lisaattheshore Member Posts: 110
    edited September 2010

    From everything I can find, HER- takes YEARS.  Something like 18 years to get from 1 cell to     2mm.  I don't know how much faster HER+ is. 

    Don't beat yourself up.  How could you know?  You did what you could.  Now imagine if you had not mentioned your nipple!  I have seen that around 30% don't show on the mammo.  Don't know if that is correct, but mine did not show either.

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  • lago
    lago Member Posts: 17,186
    edited August 2013

    I was told I had my cancer for around 4 years. Mine was fast growing and agressive… tumor was 5.5cm.

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  • KittyDog
    KittyDog Member Posts: 1,079
    edited August 2013

    Mine was very fast growing.  Nothing Oct. 08 and Nov. 09 a 10cm tumor.  So yes it can grow very fast or it can also be very slow growing.  Wishing you the best.  My Dr. also thought it had been growing less than a year.  I had a small bulge appear in July 09.

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  • stacys_mom
    stacys_mom Member Posts: 12
    edited September 2010

    I had some great luck with chemo before surgery.  All three breast tumors were gone by the time of my mastectomy.  Still had the positive lymph nodes- but it was great to know the chemo worked.  Good luck!

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  • amlg1
    amlg1 Member Posts: 596
    edited September 2010

    Mine grew very fast,22 years of mamo's,then whamo 31 positive nodes..1 year almost to the day of my mamo to the prior year.

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  • littletower
    littletower Member Posts: 333
    edited October 2010

    Who knows with this crazy disease. I was clear in a December mammogram and diagnosed at Stage 3C FIVE MONTHS later.

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  • AnacortesGirl
    AnacortesGirl Member Posts: 1,758
    edited October 2010

    Yep - each cancer is different.  The studies refer to generalized data but each person is different.  But you are getting very good news about the chemo shrinking the tumors.  With ER/PR + tumors only 20% of the women have shrinkage.  The more shrinkage the better the long term prognosis.  Had this discussion with my onc just a few weeks ago when we were talking about my situation with no response to neoadjuvant chemo.

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  • Jellydonut
    Jellydonut Member Posts: 1,043
    edited August 2013

    The others are correct in stating it depends on many factors of the individual cancer and is called a "doubling" rate.  One cell goes awry and in about 100 days it divides and becomes two....after another 100 days those two cells become four....and so on. 

    As a rule, cancer is in the body for about ten years before discovery, but as noted, this can be a shorter or longer time depending on how aggressive, or non-aggressive the individual cancer is in the person's body.

    "Early Detection" is a phrase that is bandied about a lot, but it is far from reality. A mammogram  can pick up about a one centimeter sized tumor (less than a half inch) and at that point it's produced about 30 doublings.  Surely, though, it's better than not having any detection device.

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