Newbie - Triple Neg, Stage IIIA, IDC, 5-6 cm lump;

Ratatask, you have no definitive reason to think that it HAS spread, either, so try not to freak out...I know that's easier said than done. Also, at some point, you should ask for a PET scan, which can see if there IS any spread...or NOT, to reassure you! As several others have posted, it's the lymph nodes' JOB. to "catch" the cancer, and keep it from spreading past. I had 14 removed & only 1 had cancer cells, and many others have similar situations, as you may! Whatever comes your way, know that you have a world of women (& some men!) at your fingertips to help you get through it. BREATHE!

Ratatask:

I am so sorry that you have to find yourself on this board, but I can assure you that you have found a haven in this rocky sea of cancer by being here.  Please know that most tumors over 3 cm. are taken out after chemo is given in order to shrink them and also to get a good idea of what the particular drugs they have chosen for you are doing. So that would be considered normal protocol for a tumor of that size.  Secondly, the fact that your node showed cancer infiltration would not be unusual either with a larger tumor.  Please look at it from the view that your lymph nodes were doing their job in catching the cancer and that it has not spread to an outside area.  This is a terrible time for you, the worst, in fact, but once you get going with your treatment and know that you are fighting this beast as aggressively that you can (and that is very important with triple neg. cancer), you will then begin to see a great deal of this storm begin to temper.  We are all here for you, every step of the way.  I wish you all the best and want you to know you will not be on this journey alone.  

Linda 

Ratatask,



Some women who are triple negative with large tumors do well. Jennifer Griffin of Fox News had a 6 to 9 cm. tumor (not sure how many positive nodes), but she responded very well to chemotherapy.



Has anyone told you yet that triple negatives often (not always) respond well to chemo? That's because the tumors are usually grade 3, i.e. fast-dividing, and chemo targets fast-dividing cells. A minority of women have a "pathologic complete response," where the chemo completely destroys the tumor. That is associated with a very good prognosis. Jennifer Griffin had a pCR. I did not...I had a partial response.



Of course you'll need to see what the pathology shows about your nodes and see how your tumor responds to chemo. I'm just saying it's not a given that you won't do well with a large tumor.



Also second the point about getting chemo first. That's a good thing. It lets your doctors try to shrink the tumor before surgery and it tells them whether your tumor responds to the chemo regimen they give you. If you don't respond, they can change the regimen. While they haven't proved that chemo first is better in terms of killing any wandering cells in your body quickly (ie preventing distant metastasis), to me that's common sense. Work on the whole body first and deal with the local situation/surgery later.



I started chemo right away. My tumor shrank a lot and the proliferation rate was lower in the residual tumor (what was left after chemo). They think the chemo killed any fast-growing cells that may have been circulating at first. I think chemo first helped, but that's just me.