Recurrence rate/likelihood based on negative node

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JuniperCat
JuniperCat Member Posts: 658
edited March 2016 in IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma)

Hello and happy new year! I am wondering if having negative node involvement indicates a reduced risk of cancer recurrence (after lumpectomy). Many thanks for your input!

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  • BarredOwl
    BarredOwl Member Posts: 2,433
    edited December 2015

    Hi JuniperCat:

    It is good to be node negative. However, it doesn't "reduce" your risk of recurrence per se. It is more like node involvement can confer a higher level of risk.

    Keep in mind that even patients with node negative disease can have a local recurrence or distant recurrence.

    Both tumor size (T) and degree of node (N) involvement (plus the presence or absence of distant metastasis (M)) are considered in stage determinations. See the chart/grid at page 1, center:

    https://cancerstaging.org/references-tools/quickre...

    Prognosis reflects multiple factors, such as size of the tumor, node status, ER, PR, HER2 status, etcetera. Statistics such as 5-yr survival rates reflect results in the population as a whole, and most of these patients generally received then-standard treatment.

    This recent Dutch study illustrates some of these concepts:

    http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h4901

    Why do you ask?

    BarredOwl

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  • JuniperCat
    JuniperCat Member Posts: 658
    edited March 2016

    Hello BarredOwl! Thank you so much for once again helping me understand some of the intricate issues we face with this diagnosis. I am still in the process of consulting specialists (MO and RO) to determine what is the best plan of action. I really don't want to have to have chemotherapy or radiation primarily because there is do much cancer in both sides of my family (my father and both grandfathers succumbed to lung cancer, my sister has breast cancer, etc.). I'm hoping that being on Arimidex alone will suffice for me. I will make sure toread the info in the links that you've provided. I so appreciate your help and your impressive research skills! Be well and have a joyful new year!

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