Newly Diagnosed - Radiation vs Mastectomy

levassel
levassel Member Posts: 267
edited June 2014 in ILC (Invasive Lobular Carcinoma)


Hi girls. I just found this site and read through some of the posts. I was diagnosed with Invasive Lobular Carcinoma and LCIS in August. I've had a lumpectomy and lymph node removal so far (lymph nodes negative!). They are waiting on me to decide if I want a mastectomy. Half the professionals say I should and half say that the lumpectomy and radiation is enough. And so I sit weighing the pros and cons of both. I will know in a week if I need Chemo. I will also take the hormone drugs since I am ER and PR positive.



Laurie

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2013


    just wondering, why would you need chemo if your lymph nodes are negative?


    my mom had ILC many years ago with negative nodes; had lumpectomy, ALND, radiation and tamoxifen, and is a survivor of nearly 27 years with no recurrences. I have LCIS; did lumpectomy, took tamox 5 years, now taking evista, do close surveillance, and fortunately haven't had any further problems in 10 years with clear scans.


    these are such difficult decisions, best of luck to you.


    anne

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  • Rdrunner
    Rdrunner Member Posts: 309
    edited October 2013


    it depends, did the surgeon do mri of breasts, do you have dense breast tissue and how big was your tumor. I will tell you the smaller tumors i had did not show up on any screenings including mri, only the big one showed on the mri and not at all on the mammo. My point is,, if they are extremely confident there are no other tumor in the breast or other breast then mx would be over kill ?? lobular gets missed easily on screening and quite often is multifocal that is why im asking above questions

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  • levassel
    levassel Member Posts: 267
    edited October 2013


    They said they got all they could see. Mine also could not be seen with mammogram. My need for chemo depends on the oncotype DX results.


    Of course I'm worried that there IS still some there and that it won't be caught next time till it's more advanced. The tumor I had was quite small 7.5mm...but it was multi focal. They couldn't see that either on the u/s...just the one...there were 3.


    I hope that a mastectomy would reduce the chances of something coming back undetected.

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  • MmeJ
    MmeJ Member Posts: 167
    edited October 2013


    In your situation, lumpectomy + rads OR mastectomy without rads are equal. Neither is better than the other re OS.


    For some of us, it's a matter of which unpleasant choice seems less crappy. :-)

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  • gemini4
    gemini4 Member Posts: 532
    edited October 2013


    in my case, lumpectomy with rads seemed like the better choice over mastectomy. I had technically negative nodes, even though one had micromets. If I had a mastectomy, rads would not have been offered. My breast surgeon told me she would really like to see me have rads (especially since my nodes and the supraclavical area were treated), so even though she offered me the option of a mastectomy, we all agreed this was the better way to go. My RO said that lobular responds very well to rads.


    Fingers crossed that you have a low OncoType score! My result was in the low-risk range, so my MO said that I didn't need chemo.

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  • jpsgirl96
    jpsgirl96 Member Posts: 240
    edited October 2013


    For what it's worth, in early 2006 I had ILC and positive nodes (6 of 16) and my surgeon did a lumpectomy, and got good margins and a reasonable cosmetic result. I had 33 radiation sessions (bilateral because I also had DCIS with a micro invasion in the other breast) and I am cancer free 7 years after finishing treatment. I have not regretted skipping the mastectomy, though I do have to go through the regular mammogram / MRI (the lobular cancer was found by MRI) and the occasional "something" that has to be biopsied.

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  • atlbraves
    atlbraves Member Posts: 50
    edited November 2013


    As with most, I agonized about the surgical options for weeks. I had a lot of time to think about it, because I had to have an MRI and biopsy (benign, near the known tumor) before we could charge forward. My BS recommended a lumpectomy because the tumor was thought to be fairly small, just over 1cm. It was just over three months between the time I was diagnosed to my lumpectomy a couple of weeks ago. The path report showed the margins weren't clear in a couple of sides due to numerous small IDC tumors in the area that was deemed benign two months ago..so after chemo (gulp!) is done, I have to have a second surgery...and I can choose either a re-excision to try to clear the margins or an MX. This time, I'm choosing an MX for the peace of mind. The MX freaks me out on many levels but it seems my best shot at eliminating a recurrence.

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  • DocBabs
    DocBabs Member Posts: 775
    edited November 2013


    Hi Laurie, Like you I had a very early ILC .A lumpectomy and radiation would have been sufficient treatment but my oncologist said that she didn't really want me to go through radiation and have any of the possible side effects from that treatment.I never had a moments' hesitation about a BMX.I tried AI's for a year but the side effects were horrible for me so I stopped.I'm putting a lot of faith in my doctors and their opinion that my cancer was caught at the earliest possible stage. Good luck with your decision.

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