An injury question

Charles_Pelkey · March 2012

Last summer, I found a lump on my chest and it turned out to be an aggressive 2.1cm tumor and I joined the "elite" club of male breast cancer patients (gee, I wish I would have missed that invitation).

I had a lumpectomy, which showed cancer at the margins, so I opted for a double mastectomy (I really didn't need those things, anyway). The pathology report showed several other locations in my left breast that showed signs of DCIS.

My question dates back to a couple of years before my diagnoses. I had a serious crash on my bicycle, which resulted in a hard hit on my chest and left arm. I had a huge hematoma on the left part of my chest. It was painful and took weeks to heal, but I was scheduled for a trip to Africa the next day, so I never sought medical attention. The photo of that injury shows that it occurred in what would later become a painfully familiar part of my chest ... almost precisely where I later found the tumor.

Would trauma to the chest, particularly to, say, a duct that apparently had unnoticed DCIS sitting there quietly, accelerate the development of a tumor? Could it be that my injury was the trigger that turned that DCIS into Invasive earlier than it might have otherwise?

Bren-2007 · March 2012

Hi Charles!

That is the million dollar question. In the past few years, there have been others who have posted about a traumatic injury where their cancer was found. There may be something to it. I don't have any scientific knowledge about the possibility.

There just seems to be no rhyme or reason about who gets breast cancer.

Wishing you the best,

Bren

Omaz · March 2012

Charles - First, sorry you have to go through this! I wonder about that too. Maybe during healing there is inflammation and cell proliferation. If there was DCIS then perhaps the injury does cause it to grow. I had mastitis a couple times during breast feeding many years ago and though I can't remember exactly I think it was in the area where the tumor eventually showed up. It's a really good question. Edited to add: It's a good question to me whether inflammation caused by injury can contribute to the development of bc.

Mallory107 · March 2012

Some say that a biopsy can trigger DCIS to become invasive so perhaps an injury like that could too. I wouldn't beat yourself up about not seeking treatment though because I can't imagine anything that could have been done to stop it at that point.

Charles_Pelkey · March 2012

Omaz, thank you for the sympathy. I bet we're all sort of disappointed with the fact that we ended up here. So far, the prognosis is good. I'm dealing with it and am trying to see some of the positive aspects of the whole experience. I see you, too, had an IDC. I trust everything is okay now. How is your recovery coming along?

Oh no, Mallory, I am not too worried about the fact that I didn't get it treated. For one thing Namibia was awesome. I only mentioned the lack of treatment because I really had no way of precisely gauging the extent of the injury. I just knew that I couldn't use my arm for about three weeks and my chest had a massive bruise for about that long, to.

dlb823 · March 2012

Charles, I've read/heard theories that injury can trigger future bc, and when you think about it, I think it makes sense from the inflammation standpoint. The problem is, so many times these theories are poo-poo'd by someone who hasn't had a chest injury or knows others who never had a chest injury or knows people who had chest injuries who don't have bc. But I don't think that's the way bc works. I think it's cumulative assaults (i.e. environmental toxins, lack of certain nutrients, stress, synthetic hormones, injuries, individual genetics, and who knows what else...), all weakening our immune systems. And I think it can be quite different or quite a different combination for each of us, that eventually allows bc cells to grow unopposed. So, yes... along with root canals and other maybe strange-sounding things that cause inflammation, I personally believe that for some of us injuries to the chest area might well be a precipitating factor. JMHO... Deanna

Anonymous · March 2012

Charles - So sorry that you have to be in the "elite". I can't give you a scientific or informed answer, either, but (in the context of my initial consults) both of my BS asked if I had ever had an injury to my breast (not to my knowledge). I recall finding that an interesting question and wondering if prior injury had some significance. Hopefully, someone of knowledge on these boards will be able to answer you soon. And keep us posted on your progress! Best wishes.

jancie · March 2012

Charles - I was kicked in the left chest by a 1400 lb horse with such force I was knocked 10' backwards and the only thing that stopped me was another wall.

That was in August 2008 and I was dx'd on December 30th 2008. My tumor was grade 1 - not very agressive at all so I truly believe my tumor was already there but the kick aggravated the cancer cells to where it grew rapidly between August and December.

Is there a correlation? I am not sure. I do know that for 2 years I was stressed out to the max - more so than you can even realize and I think that was a contributing factor in my cancer starting.

Unfortunately there are no right or wrong answers. Nobody knows for sure what causes BC. There are environmental factors in certain areas of the US. We have an area in Utah referred to as Down Winders from the nuclear testing done in NV years and years ago. The material was carried downwind to certain towns in Utah and those towns such as Price, UT have a cancer rate of 70% or more among the residents that live there and it is a SMALL TOWN.

Many men who were stationed at Camp Lejune (sp?) have BC now - what is different about that one base versus all of the others in the US? I don't know - I haven't done any research but something is/was going on at that location.

An injury question

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