LCIS Found After PBM - What Now?

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lrash1167
lrash1167 Member Posts: 4
edited October 2016 in LCIS (Lobular Carcinoma In Situ)

I had a PBM done due to A VERY high risk of cancer based on family history and having to have several lump biopsy's done over the years. After my surgery, my breast surgeon said that pathology found I had LCIS in my left breast tissue.

My questions are these:

1 - Should I be seeing an oncologist to follow me (I still have my lymphnodes) or am I just on my own?

2 - When asked, do I say I have had cancer? I'm very confused on this one as my breast surgeon, plastic surgeon and pathology reports all say I had cancer, but from what I've read I'm unclear on this.

Confused...

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  • Wicked
    Wicked Member Posts: 141
    edited September 2016

    LCIS is not considered to be invasive cancer, it's considered a pre-cancerous marker. It will not leave the breast and travel to the lymph nodes. Most women with LCIS never develop an invasive cancer. What do you doctors say you should be doing to follow-up? Has anyone mentioned anti-hormonals to you?

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  • MelissaDallas
    MelissaDallas Member Posts: 7,268
    edited September 2016

    Was the LCIS found on the margins of the tissue removed, or was it just found in the pathology?

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  • lrash1167
    lrash1167 Member Posts: 4
    edited September 2016

    it was found in the pathology report... Not sure where other than in my left breast.

    As for the hormones - I had a Oophorectomy at the same time as my PBM as I had a partial hysterectomy done YEARS ago.

    No one's really told me one way or the other what I should be doing other than seeing my plastic surgeon once a year to keep track of my implants.

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited September 2016

    Irash----while decreasing your overall risk of invasive bc dramatically by having the PBMs (about 90%), not all the breast tissue can be removed during the surgery, so some risk is still there, but minimal. So you might want to be followed, for a while anyway, by an oncologist, or perhaps by the surgeon. (if he is going to follow you anyway, he could do breast exams). My original oncologist said it was "definitely cancer, just a non-invasive type" and it was stated as "malignant" on my pathology report following my lumpectomy. However, my 2nd and 3rd oncologists (first 2 retired) hedge around the subject and say they feel "it is more a high risk marker, not a true cancer", (so basically that's what I tell people, if they are really interested (which they usually are not); I now consider it a high risk marker, that requires me to stay very vigilant with my doctor visits, screening exams, and meds..

    Anne

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  • marketingmama
    marketingmama Member Posts: 161
    edited October 2016

    If it helps at all, I had a PBMX for LCIS. Final path showed LCIS on both sides and "a lot of it"---but thankfully nothing more. Because of this reassuring pathology, my BS told me I wouldn't require follow-up treatment or monitoring and says there is virtually no remaining risk (1-2%). About 6 months post-MX, he released me. I'm taking him at his word and unless new information comes out or shows up, I am done with mammos.

    Good question about "did you have cancer?" I tend to tell ordinary people I had early stage because it's easier than explaining LCIS or PBMX. For docs, I sometimes tell them details because I had early stage uterine cancer about 3 years ago and my gyn believes "there is something about me and estrogen." I still have my ovaries, though I'm 51 and I suspect they're starting to lose their punch!

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