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Anonymous
Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
edited June 2014 in DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ)

Hi all … Just joined your group.  Diagnosed with DCIS, High Grade w/ Necrosis on January 24, 2014 and had my lumpectomy on February 11, 2014.  This afternoon I have an appt with my BS to discuss re-excision.  On the phone, she stated she had "clean margins" but routinely takes "tiny shaves" of tissue away from the site and 2 of the 4 areas had more DCIS.  Is this common?  

I really enjoy these discussion boards, but there are so many different topics and posts, so unsure where to start.

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  • LAstar
    LAstar Member Posts: 1,574
    edited February 2014

    That's confusing to me.  You had some clear margins but two of the margins were not clear?  Or she took an initial amount of tissue that inducted clear margins then a second sample during the same procedure that indicated more DCIS?  My BS took a larger area during my re-excision and found more DCIS behind two of the clear margins.  There can be skips in the ducts between areas of DCIS. 

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited February 2014

    Yes, it's confusing to me, too.  She did mention "skips" in the ducts between areas of DCIS.  Perhaps she'll explain it better this afternoon, but it sounded like if she wouldn't have taken the other 4 "tiny shaves" of tissues, then she would have just told me I had "clear margins".  The "tiny shaves" were at the 12:00, 3:00, 6:00 & 9:00 positions and the 12:00 & 9:00 had the DCIS.

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  • bojo
    bojo Member Posts: 74
    edited February 2014

    cdelv66,

    One thing I would ask your surgeon the size of the "clear margin" she achieved.

    Also, get a copy of your pathology report.

    Good Luck

    Jo


     

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  • cinnamonsmiles
    cinnamonsmiles Member Posts: 779
    edited February 2014

    I had DCIS and ADH that "skipped" parts of the ducts and "hit" others. I liken it to a tornado. The tornado/cancer, can cause damage/cancer in one spot, leave the next spot alone, and "hit" another spot.

    I think from what you wrote, it sounds like you have multi-focal DCIS, meaning that you have more than one spot of DCIS. The margins for the first spot were clean, but sounds like the surgeon took tissues samples from 4 other spots and found two more spots of DCIS.

    If you think about having more than one area, each spot of DCIS is a separate but  possible related entity and therefore, each spot could have  its own area of clean margins.

    Sounds to me like your first area had clean margins, but upon further excision, the surgeon found two more spots of DCIS, creating multifocal (more than one area) DCIS.

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