Abdominal soft tissue mets

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Anonymous
Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
edited October 2017 in Stage IV/Metastatic Breast Cancer ONLY
Abdominal soft tissue mets
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  • Sadiesservant
    Sadiesservant Member Posts: 1,995
    edited October 2017

    Hello Everyone,

    I am reaching out to folks on the site to see if any of you have experienced mets in soft tissues, particularly in the abdomen. My most recent CT scan indicated clear signs of progression but also a thickening in the chest and the abdominal cavity, along the capsule of the liver. I have been experiencing pain since mid-August and my MO believes it is due the soft-tissue mets pressing on the liver which is now distended lower into my abdomen.

    I was diagnosed with a right pleural effusion late last year which came back as MBC. My short term prognosis was good as it had been almost 16 years since my original diagnosis but it seems that this cancer is not behaving the way one would expect. In terms of tumour burden, it has never been clear if there was a mass in the lungs. I have had progression in bone mets (primarily along my spine and on a few ribs). But it is this "thickening" that has me stumped and worried. The CT report states:

    Lobulated soft tissue is noted in a subphrenic location extending along the right lobe of the liver. Mild mass effect and scalloping of the adjacent liver parenchyma is noted. The soft tissue density measures up to 1.4 cm in diameter. Impression: Increased soft tissue density and scalloping along the right lobe of the liver suspicious for capsular disease.

    My question, have any of you experienced mets in the soft tissues like this? Fortunately there are no lesions in my liver at this point but, as you can imagine, I am getting a bit anxious as so far Taxol and Anastrozole have both failed. On Xeloda now. Hope it beats this back!

    Pat

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  • Sadiesservant
    Sadiesservant Member Posts: 1,995
    edited October 2017

    Bump. Hoping some of you with peritoneal mets will weigh in.

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  • Tina2
    Tina2 Member Posts: 2,943
    edited October 2017

    Pat,

    Sorry, but I have no clue. I just want to let you know that I saw this and hope you get some enlightening information quickly.

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  • Southernsurvivor
    Southernsurvivor Member Posts: 632
    edited October 2017
    Hi Sadie,

    So sorry to hear about your progression. I know anything new on a scan is very disconcerting. I'm not familiar with what your CT scan stated, but I do have ILC that has metastasized to the abdomen only, which was finally diagnosed by Mayo Clinic in May 2014. (My cancer has not spread anywhere else at this time.)

    Here is my unusual story: Tissue had grown so much in the duodenum that it became 100% blocked - couldn't eat or drink anything from March -May 2014. After 2 endoscopies, I was being told that this thickening/obstruction was not cancer. I finally travelled to Mayo Clinic in May 2014 to get some answers and they determined BC mets to the stomach. Mayo did a procedure to insert a stent in my duodenum to allow me to eat/drink, which lasted only 2 months. Cancerous tissue had grown through the stent and again blocked my duodenum. I was then put on a feeding tube while on chemo, hoping that the tissue would shrink and allow me to eat and drink again. I was on the feeding tube until I had major surgery in March 2015 to move my intestines to come off the left side of my stomach instead of my right side (and bypass the blocked duodenum) when we finally realized that the chemo was not shrinking the cancerous tissue at all. Still to this day, my duodenum is 100% blocked. I have been on several hormonals and chemos since these belly mets were diagnosed in 2014: Faslodex, Abraxane, Gemzar & Carboplatin combo, Xeloda, Ibrance & Letrozole, Ibrance & Faslodex, and currently Halaven. Some treatments never worked while others worked for awhile. So far, Xeloda worked the longest for me for about 16 months.

    We have a great group of women with similar-type mets under the "peritoneal carcinomatosis" thread. Please join us there - we support each other well and share our experiences. Several of us have had some type of thickening or blockage that our MOs continue to work with us to manage utilizing various chemos and other meds. We all seem to have different success rates on the various chemos.

    Glad you reached out - look forward to seeing you on the belly mets thread!
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  • Sadiesservant
    Sadiesservant Member Posts: 1,995
    edited October 2017

    Thanks to you both for responding.

    Southernsurvivor, you have certainly been through the wars. I’m so sorry you have had to face all of that but I am happy that you appear to be doing well. It’s also good to hear that you had success with Xeloda. I will finish round one on Friday and so far Madame X has been treating me well.

    To be honest, I still don’t quite know what to make of this and am not entirely clear if it is in my peritonium which is why I started a new thread. I know that ILC is more likely to go to the belly than IDC. I wondered if there was a distinction between soft tissue and cancer in the membranes.

    Thanks again for your responses. I am always amazed by the support that can be found here.

    Pat.

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  • Southernsurvivor
    Southernsurvivor Member Posts: 632
    edited October 2017

    Sadie, you are welcome. Please keep us updated - we will definitely support you any way we can.

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