calcification after lumpectomy and radiation

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karenmidland
karenmidland Member Posts: 4
edited June 2014 in DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)

had lumpectomy feb 6/07 for comedo grade 3 dcis--april 2/07 had mammogram before radiation treatments began on april 11/07--went to surgeon for followup appt june 25th and he told me i had one punctate clacification close to the original surgical site--saw the the oncologist on june 29th and told her what the surgeon said--she brought up the radiaologist report, read it and then told me she was going to discuss this with him and to call in two weeks to see what they were going to do --i called and the receptionist sail the doctor would call mke back--that was a week ago and still nothing--i am very concerened that no one told me about this before radiation started and that the oncologist i saw every week for fove weeks and who i personally handed my x rays to did,t mention this--because the radiation hospital is in a different city i had one oncologist there and now go to the local cancer centre for follow up so the last oncologist i saw wasn,t responsible for this however i now feel i,m getting the run around and don,t know where to go from here--how do you get results--i,m afraid that this calcifcation is part of the same ones that caused me to have a lumpectomy and radiation in the first place

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  • Beesie
    Beesie Member Posts: 12,240
    edited July 2007
    Hmmmm...... my two questions would be:

    1) What were your margins after your lumpectomy surgery? Did you have clean, wide margins or were the margins close?

    2) Did this calcification show up on the original films when you were diagnosed, or is it new? If it's new, it could be totally unrelated and likely is benign.

    I'm not sure what to recommend to help you get the answers. Maybe the best thing to do is to call and leave urgent messages, with the details of what you are asking about, with every doctor that you've been dealing with through this - your radiologist (were you aware of this?), the original oncologist (were you aware of this?), the new oncologist (have been waiting to hear back from you about this)...
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  • betsy13
    betsy13 Member Posts: 76
    edited December 2007

    Hi,

    I also had a small punctate calcification that appeared to be part of the original malignant cluster (grade 2 with prominent comedonecrosis) and was present prior to surgery....and then picked up as "left behind" in the 6 month mammo.....the radiologist was concerned, but also felt that if it had been part of the malignant cluster radiation should have made it sterile.....so he recommended a short term follow up or biopsy depending on my Breast Surgeon...who chose biopsy, but was unable to get it b/c of location & my small breast size...in Dec. had follow up.....unchanged, but hard to see b/c of scar tissue...lots of white area...only could be seen on mag view....so I am getting mri (bilateral) in Jan (have to wait to be 8 weeks post-op for hernia:O wouldn't want that mesh to become an underwire bra;) Just want to tell you that the radiologist from the Dec mammo didn't even see it I had to show him the report...and then he decided to pull up my Aug films....and do additional mag views (which were supposed to be done as part of the short term follow up recommendation) He then thanked me for insisting to speak to him (his words "Thank God you asked to speak to me") and then proceeded to make me more nervous by asking repeatedly if I had had clear margins....YES...but technically you would have to do over 200 slides to be sure all your margins are clear....so remember they are your boobs.....call and raise hell.....or at least until you get an answer you feel comfortable with......and if you don't find someone you do feel comfortable with......I have a KICK ASS breast surgeon who is aggressive, but compassionate (I had a follow up US too).....she makes the radiologists sweat:)

    good luck & hope this helps.....      

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  • ashaby
    ashaby Member Posts: 278
    edited December 2007

    I'm in the same ballpark gals. Clean margins after 2 lumpectomies and now the rads see calcification near the scar site. I have a biop Jan 21 and seems like many women on this site have had benign results. Have cheer. We'll support each other.



    Basha

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  • Jansd1
    Jansd1 Member Posts: 2
    edited October 2011

    I have DCIS grade 3 , but it's only small cluster of tiny calcifications on mammogram . My surgeon said she is going to take a golf size amount of tissue from my breast - isn't that way too much , considering its only tiny calcifications . Should I get a 2nd opinion ? I don't see how she can take out so much when I have no lump or anything . Can't she just take out the calcification area & surrounding tissue . Just feel like a golf size amount from my breast is way to much , I dont want o be totally disfigured . I am just so stressed about it

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  • rn4babies
    rn4babies Member Posts: 409
    edited October 2011

    Jansd1...I also had a tiny area of microcalcs (4mm) and according to my path report, he took a 5cm X 7cm X 2cm area with incision under my breast. You can't even tell where it was except for the fine scar (my RO even asked "where's your scar").  They must take out a considerable amount of tissure larger than the calcs so they get clean margins. Mine was also a Grade 3 which makes a differance as well.

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  • cycle-path
    cycle-path Member Posts: 1,502
    edited October 2011

    Jansd, the cluster of calcifications doesn't necessarily represent the whole tumor -- the significance of the calcifications is that they are a warning sign that there may be a tumor. When the radiologist sees calicifications, s/he knows that s/he needs to recommend a biopsy in order to find out what's really going on. The size of the area of the calcifications isn't what's used to determine what needs to come out -- the results of the biopsy are what's used to determine that.

    Do you have the results of the biopsy? What's the estimate of the tumor size on the pathology report? 

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  • dancetrancer
    dancetrancer Member Posts: 4,039
    edited October 2011

    DCIS usually doesn't make a lump.  By definition, if it is DCIS only, it stays within the ducts.  As it is growing, then, it spreads out within the ductal system in the breast, instead of making a lump.  Often is grows out beyond the calc's - this is why they need to take a larger sample of tissue - they need to make sure they are getting good margins, to reduce your risk of recurrence.  

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