What does x/x nodes mean?

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Marietje1956
Marietje1956 Member Posts: 20
edited May 2015 in Stage III Breast Cancer

hi, just dropping this question here, hope someone will provide me with an answer! What does 0/3 nodes mean in the description of diagnosis? Is ithow many were dissected and how many positive? I do not see how they can dissect only a few nodes. I had 21 taken out, and 6 positive. So should my formula be 6/21 or..?

Thanks!

Marietje

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  • Sam2U
    Sam2U Member Posts: 233
    edited May 2015


    Yes--that's right.  Usually the lower numbers are from a Sentinel Node Biopsy not Axillary Lymph Node Biopsy.  So 0/3 means no disease in the 3 nodes taken out with the SNB and therefore no need to do the ALND.

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  • Hopeful82014
    Hopeful82014 Member Posts: 3,480
    edited May 2015

    Yes, it's how many positive out of how many were counted by the pathologist, so your formula would, indeed, be 6/21. (Nodes are variable in number - some women have lots, some not so many. Some pathologists are more obsessive about finding every last one than others. Since they are small and hidden in fatty tissue they can be hard to feel/see and counts can vary.)

    Some women have only 0/1, for example, or 1/3 because they had a sentinel node biopsy rather than a full lymph node dissection (ALND). (It sounds like you had the latter.) In the case of the sentinel node biopsy (SNB) the surgeon removes only those that are demonstrated to drain from the tumor. There's more info on both the SNB and the ALND in the articles in the main portion of this site.

    Long story short - welcome to the site, Marie. I'm sorry that you, too, find yourself needing this site but hope we can all help. Don't ever hesitate to ask questions or ask for support. Take care.


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  • Marietje1956
    Marietje1956 Member Posts: 20
    edited May 2015

    thanks, Sam & Hopeful, for the quick and clear answers. i am from the Netherlands and we have two very helpful websites for women with BC, but this one is really extensive and offers a lot of support and useful information. Will be filling in my profile soon.

    Marie

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  • moni731
    moni731 Member Posts: 293
    edited May 2015

    Marietje1956- My stats are 1/2 as I only allowed the surgeon to remove the one that tested positive on ultrasound and fine needle biopsy. I did not have a SNB and refused an ALND. I had neochemo and he said that it would be difficult to determine what nodes would have been positive anyway, so I said take only the identified node with the clip and leave the rest (he said the two were stuck together, hence two not one). I was not increasing my chances of lymphedema more that I had to. There have been studies confirming this route now, but at the time it was very new. My surgeon is one of the leaders in this type now.

    Moni

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  • GeorgiaRai
    GeorgiaRai Member Posts: 175
    edited May 2015

    I'm 8/8 after SNB with no ALND.  My surgeon found the sentinel node and could see 7 others next to it that were obviously cancerous, so she took them out as well.  The was all done PRIOR to chemo & BMX, and no more nodes were taken at the time of my surgery.  Like Moni, my surgeon and I wanted to keep the risk for LE at a minimum.

    Welcome to BCO, Marietje!

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