Quadrant of breast makes a difference?

KathyL624
KathyL624 Member Posts: 217
edited May 2016 in Stage I Breast Cancer

I am freaking out. My doctors at Sloane Kettering have all been very optimistic--I was staged at 1A, Grade 1, and sentinel nodes were clear. Oncotype was 9, so nothing but tamoxifen for me. However, I just read a lot of things about lower inner quadrant tumors being more likely to cause death because of missed mammary node mets. Have calls into my surgeon and onco--never was this mentioned to me. Anyone know more about this?

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited May 2016

    Hi KathyL624, Welcome to the community. We are sorry about your diagnosis and your scare. You can do a search using the blue tool bar to your left. Open the search function and in quotes type in the words "inner quadrant tumor". You may be able to link to others with a similar story. Stay connected here and keep us posted. Let us know if you need any help navigating the site. The MOds

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  • jewelkid87
    jewelkid87 Member Posts: 7
    edited May 2016

    My tumor is in the lower inner quadrant and I too read articles about it being more dangerous. I asked my bs and she did not say much except that they don't check the inner mammary nodes because they can't get to them and most of the time the breast flows through the other nodes. It does scare me but I try not to think about it because I dont think there is anything that can be done except to do aggressive treatment. I wish there was a way to get to those inner nodes and check them...

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  • KathyL624
    KathyL624 Member Posts: 217
    edited May 2016

    Did you have sentinel node mapping?  My surgeon said I had two clearly blue so they took those out but they were axillary so I wonder if they would have seen things light up with inner mammary nodes. She also said those inner mammary nodes, when enlarged, are seen on MRI and mine did not show that.  Made me feel a little better but still kind of worried!


    I showed the studies to my oncologist as well who said they were "crap" and based on retrospective data, so I feel the medical community really doesn't believe the inner quadrant thing.

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  • jewelkid87
    jewelkid87 Member Posts: 7
    edited May 2016

    I have not had my nodes removed yet but they did not light up with the MRI. It makes me feel a little more at ease knowing your oncologist doesn't put much weight into the studies. It was pretty difficult to find information on it so I think you are right that the medical community doesn't think much of it.

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  • Kiks1
    Kiks1 Member Posts: 254
    edited May 2016

    My tumor was at the 3 o'clock position. I had one internal mammary node that came back as enlarged on the breast mri. MO decided to order a pet/ct to confirm malignancy. Thankfully, it came back good. I have since had a chest CT and another Pet/CT post chemo and everything is clear. MO thinks that the node was reactive because of inflammation from surgery. I had my MO have another radiologist re-read the scans to give me peace of mind.

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  • bevin
    bevin Member Posts: 1,902
    edited May 2016

    Mine is at 6pm position, lower inner quadrant. I read the same articles and they also stated that some people with LIQ might be under treated. My onco type was 11 and I was only 45 at diagnosis. I was offered chemo and also told I'd likely be fine without it. I chose without it. Since those studies didn't mention hormonal status, I'm hoping that plus node negative on aux side that I'm in good shape. Praying you are too.

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  • Kessa619
    Kessa619 Member Posts: 80
    edited May 2016

    Mine was at 6:30. I always thought that meant it was directly behind the nipple. Is that right? Is that considered inner quadrant?


    Thanks,

    Kessa

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  • bluepearl
    bluepearl Member Posts: 961
    edited May 2016

    I asked about location of tumour and John Hopkins Breast Cancer Centre said not to worry about that, The main things to consider are size, grade, LVI, hormone status and her2 status and of course node status. An oncotype of 9 is very low risk...so is grade 1 and stage 1A. Incidentally, breast tumours almost always go toward the auxiliary channels....rarely just the mammary. If one had a positive aux. node more worried then about a mammary node....but not much worry even there. Worry doesn't accomplish anything anyways. I worried about my first breast cancer and it sure didn't stop the 2nd one from happening.

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