More Accurate in Staging Breast Cancer

OK not sure if this was posted just to burst my bubble, but Watch Out reading this article.  It just made me feel like crap.  I am so glad they can pinpoint the crap that gives me a "poor prognosis" thank you very much.     In the future please give a bummer warning.

Pure, yes, my reaction was also along the lines of "ignorance is bliss." Still, I plan to ask about this, because right now they do both a bone scan and a CT on me annually. It would be nice actually to drop that to one scan instead of two separate ones, especially if the PET is more reliable and accurate.

Yes, I saw this article elsewhere as well and read that line of locally advanced having not having a good prognosis.  But I took this as meaning the prognosis continues to be poorer because many stage III are actually stage IV at diagnosis.  I think a true stage III has as good of a chance at long term survival as anyone else!  I do think it is a good idea to have a PET scan if you are any stage. I was clinically a stage 1 and I had the PET. I was still a stage I after the PET.  My one node that had mild uptake was deemed benign on the CAT Scan portion of the test. Well I had four at surgery and that puts me in the locally advanced stage IIIa category!! I think of the nodes catching the cancer, some of the cancer escaping through the blood and nodes (yes also had LVI invasion) and then the chemo killing all these escapees....I only had one PET and no other tests since then. I think it is a good practice to give all women with invasive cancer a PET at diagnosis to prevent some (not all will be prevented) future surprises but the insurance companies probably won't agree. They are expensive. 

My onc explained to me at the beginning that a lot of stage llls are actually undetected stage lVs.  That is one reason they hit us so hard with the tx.  And I don't rely too much on the scans.  I know too many people who were clear only to become symptomatic a couple of months later.  Yeah...Cancer really does suck.

Pip, this explains why my docs snapped to right quick when I had breathing problems this summer. I was a bit taken aback, then realized that they hope for the best, but always have that nagging doubt about the actual stage.

The scans are not very reliable, as far as I can see. I had 7 cancerous nodes at surgery time. One could be felt, but none showed up on any of the scans. It used to drive me slightly nutty, but at this point I figure that if they can't see anything and I can't feel anything, then it is not a problem to just go along on the assumption that I am fine. It may turn out to have been BS, but I will have had a fine time meanwhile, so no harm, no foul.

Yikes!! Something else to ask my onc on Friday.  Does he suspect stage 4 instead?  I am asking him for a PET scan as well. I received a CT of chest, abdomen and pelvis as well as a bone scan about 2 weeks after my initial surgery where tumor was removed. All clean, that was 2011, received 2 more bone scans and 2 xrays 2012, all clean.  With those scans you would think that if something was lurking it would show up?

I am always glad to see new treatments and developments, but my bubble bursts pretty easily.  I think there was a kind of unspoken policy for quite a while to give a warning to "statistical" articles, or those that have a bummer factor, but please keep the information coming.  I still want the info....HMMMM...  Sometimes I just want to yell about how the whole thing sucks.  

are they saying if you had a pet scan at dx that you have a better chance ....I had a pet at dx ......most of us did right?!! i am confused..... what else is new!!!!!

I wont bother to read the article judging from the reactions. Ive had a rough day as it is.



Ive never had a PET, onc assured me if my CT was abnormal then she'll order me one. Sometimes PET scans may light up spots that look suspicious but turn out benign.



Ive been getting my tumor markers regularly and they are normal but then I checked them after surgery and pre chemo and they were normal too.



What a crap shoot. Sorry this just depressed me but I'll be ok tomorrow.

The article isn't that bad.  It just says that they are testing a new method of scanning that gives a more accurate and complete picture at the beginning of dx.  The hope is that they will be able to treat accordingly instead of making guesses and assumptions. 

Momine, whatever gets us through the night, it's alright or something like that!  lol 

NoMore, absolutely!