multi-focal tumors.....and survival

Sorry you're feeling down today, I have those days also.  I had two tumors, one measuring 5x7 and another 1x3.  My dr has never said anything different about stats or seeding due to this.  She said, if chemo works then it will work, no matter how many or what size they are.  I've wondered if she said this just to make me feel better....probably so, well it worked   I don't see how that can be true when 5 yr stats for a I are different than us but that's her attitude.  From what I was told my entire breast was infected, my BS said it was throughout the whole breast and looked like cauliflower stalks mixed in with the tissue so, I'm not sure if I'm considered muti focal or not, I think so.  I hope someone comes along who knows more and gives you reassurance today.  Hugs.

Hi Kathleen,

I am a Stage IV gal but saw that you wrote you consider us to be happy endings as well!!

I was originally diagnosed with multi-focal invasive ductal carcinoma (5 tumors)and 4+ lymph nodes in Nov. 2002.  I had bilateral mastectomies, chemo and radiation.  I went 6 years before I had a recurrence in my hip.  So I had bone mets, but only one which made it a better prognosis.  I got almost 3 years from Femara and Zometa and was just recently diagnosed with bone mets progression.  I guess what I want you to take from this is, next month will be my 9 year cancerversary from my original diagnosis.  9 years!!!  And I'm still nowhere near needing chemo as the anti-hormonal therapy is still an option for me.  I expect to live many more years.

Hang in there girl, I know it's hard not to wonder when the boogy man is going to come through the door, but for you right now, he's still on the other side of the door!  Maybe he'll never make it through the door.  Live as if he won't.

((Hugs for Kathleen))

SusanR

Kathleen- 2 1/4 years out from diagnosis here. I had 2 tumors- one 2.9 cm and one 1.9 cm. I was also under the impresion that it didn't really change prognosis if you were multifocal. Somehow that seems counterintuitive to me, since being multifocal shows that my breast was so good at making tumors it made 2 of them! My onc doesn't seem too concerned about my remaining breast even though I always ask if I should remove it as well. I would guess that alot of the stage III women have a multifocal or multicentric diagnosis, but you can't tell from the "diagnosis" line at the bottom of our comments. I've kind of gotten used to the fact that having 9 positive lymph nodes is the scary feature of my BC (maybe as a result of being multi-centric?) and if I worry, I worry mostly about that.

I would be interested in any information on how multicentricity affects prognosis. But I'm feeling better than ever and have loads of energy. I try hard not to worry too much as long as I feel good.

multifocal here too ....  lumpectomy removed 7+cm and i had no clear margins in any direction so had a mast, 6 months of chemo, rads, and then on to arimidex that i am still taking ...

i'm working out in a health club (who knew i'd get to 60 then decide sweating can be fun ??? weird huh? ), gardening, traveling, fishing, hanging with dh and friends - life is good right now and i hope i have many many more days like this ....

Three for me and all three ILC.  I never thought about it too much and wasn't told that it made it better or worse.  Was just told that they affected 3 quandrants so a mast was the only option.

Kathleen,

I had multifocal disease too but try not to dwell on how many there were.  I opted for a bilateral mx and was told after surgery by my onc "I didn't have cancer anymore, they got that out in surgery, but I could have the seeds of cancer" so that's what the chemo and rads are for.  I pray that it all did it's job.

I also like to think of this quote I just heard a doc on a news show the other night (the one w/Brian Williams---can't remember, sorry) she said no one ever died from breast cancer in their breasts, it's when it travels somewhere else.  So I try to believe although I had significant node involvement they caught it in time.  That's my story and I'm stickin with it!

Sharon

I had 2 tumours - 2.5 cm and 1.2 cm - in (just barely) different quadrants. My wonderful BS was able to do a lumpectomy, with good result - I think a key is removing all tissue possibly affected between. Neither she nor my onc has ever said anything about multi-focal being inherently worse as far as prognosis is concerned. Being TN, grade 3, 1 affected node, LVI etc., I figure I had enough to fret about, but I am doing well 2 years out, touch wood.

I am multi focal too.  Good to hear from others.  I am only 6 mos. since diagnosis.

I was multi-focal as well. I had two tumors. One was 2.3 cm and the other was 0.9cm, and there wqs evidence that they were trying to grow toward each other to make one mother of a tumor. One of my + nodes was also 0.5cm. My onc never mentioned anything specific about needing additional treatment due to multi-focal nature of the disease. I did get hit with everything though - BMX, AND, dose dense chemo, rads and now Tamoxifen. I was religious about doing self exams so I know this crap grew like wildfire over the period of a couple of months. I've always used that as kind of a positive aspect. If it can develop quickly, then it can die quickly too!



FWIW the largest tumor is the only one that ever showed up on pre-surgery scans, but thankfully I had already decided on the BMX.

Chiming in late but glad to see this thread. I'm IIa, but multifocal/multicentric (2 IDC tumors, 4 DCIS, all in same breast--only 1 IDC and 2 DCIS originally detected through imaging, the rest discovered through post-surgery pathology). Glad to see our survival rates are the same as our unifocal cohorts, but still wishing I had done a BMX instead of a UMX. I hate to think what might be happening, undetected, in my "healthy" breast.

Thanks Julie.  It's great to here your story.  I got the book thrown at me to.  Six years sounds great. I'm only 10 months in, but this long road is made easier by women like you. 

Is anyone worried about the other breast?

I am worried about the other breast.

But I am religious also about checking it. Its not a lumpy one. pretty soft. dense, but soft.

and they are going to make it into a size B from its current saggy D. I really don't think I could go through a whole nother TE mast pain again. its been terrible getting my range of motion back. etc etc.

I am also multifocal, ILC. I am currently approaching a year from my dx. Mostly I have decided that this is all a complete crap shoot, which means that I try not to worry about it too much. I am doing all the things the docs think will help. I am trying to take decent care of myself with diet etc. Other than, all I can do is hope that the cancer stays away for a nice long time.

I know this is an older posting, but it has been the only one I could find discussing having multifoci cancers, and it's impact.  I've been worrying, and wondering about the significance of having more than one tumour.   I had two foci masses identified by mammograms and first biopsy, and the third one found following the surgical biopsy.  Anybody else want to discuss having more than one area of breast cancer?