Radiation after Lumpectomy necessary?

AprilS
AprilS Member Posts: 1
edited June 2014 in Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After

My Grandmother will be 77 years old in October. She was diagnosed with Grade III Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma on 4/19/11. She had her lumpectomy this past Tuesday so we do not know the stage yet. The pathologist told the surgeon they were fairly sure she got all the cancer but she took extra tissue just to make absolutely sure she got all the cells. If it comes back with a clear margin is it still necessary for her to go through the radiation treatments? They want her to have radiation treatments 5 days a week for 6.5 weeks. 

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  • dlb823
    dlb823 Member Posts: 9,430
    edited May 2011

    April, normally for an infiltrating (nvasive) bc, radiation therapy is the standard of care after a lumpectomy.  However, in view of your grandmother's age, I would suggest maybe getting opinions from more than one radiation oncologist, as there may be varying viewpoints on the risks vs. benefits at her age.  For most of us, radiation wasn't difficult at all.  But if her age and any pre-existing conditions might make it more stressful on her, you'll want to have that information to factor into her decision.   Also, Grade 3 is a more aggressive bc, and her negative hormone status (ER-PR-) means certain preventive meds won't be an option her.  And chemo might not be a sensible option for her either based on her age.  (Just some observations, but I'm not a doctor.)  So in addition to surgery, radiation might be one of her few and/or easier lines of defense. 

    I wish her the best, and thanks for reaching out for information.      Deanna

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  • ftblmom3
    ftblmom3 Member Posts: 100
    edited May 2011

    My Oncologist said when you choose Lumpectomy you "automatically" are agreeing to radiation. I am sorry for your grandmothers diagnosis. There are a great many women who are probably in their 70's at my place for radiation.

    Best of Luck!

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  • Fearless_One
    Fearless_One Member Posts: 3,300
    edited May 2011

    My doctor told me rads reduce risk of recurrence after lumpectomy by 50%.   I really think she will do okay with it, even at her age.   It's doable. 

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  • Megadotz
    Megadotz Member Posts: 302
    edited May 2011

    FWIW, my 82 year old aunt had a lumpectomy and radiation.  She's doing great a year later..

    I think issues about not doing the radiation come up if the patient's life expectancy is already short. 

    All the best.

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  • peggy_j
    peggy_j Member Posts: 1,700
    edited May 2011

    AprilS, sorry to hear your grandmother is going through this. Yes, standard treatment is lumpectomy + rads (5 days a week for 6.5 weeks is very common). Of course your grandma could choose to deviate. I agree it makes sense to consider your grandmother's other health issues, and to talk to the RO about her absolute risk reduction from radiation. i.e. if your grandmother's risk of recurrence is 30% so doing rads may reduce the risk of recurrence to 18%.  FWIW, I know two women who had rads in their 70s, I think at age 72 and 74 and they did well. 

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  • dogsandjogs
    dogsandjogs Member Posts: 1,907
    edited May 2011

    I am 75 and chose to skip radiation. The rad. onc. told me all the pros and cons and left it up to me.

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  • purple32
    purple32 Member Posts: 3,188
    edited May 2012

    Dr Kevin Hughes from MassGeneral ( google)  suggests it does not make as much a difference in older women.

    Good luck to all!

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  • purple32
    purple32 Member Posts: 3,188
    edited May 2012

    Just goes to show you, huh JBinok?

    Damn crap shoot!

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