Masectomy and Radiation

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Walden1
Walden1 Member Posts: 202
edited March 2018 in Radiation Therapy - Before, During, and After

My oncologist said that I would need radiation after masectomy because my cancer is in the inner quadrant. My surgeon said masectomy doesn’t usually need radiation, so there might be a debate about it in a conference. I haven’t heard from a radiologist yet. Has anyone had radiation for this reason alone? My masectomy margins should be easy to achieve because the tumors are far from the chest wall

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  • Cpeachymom
    Cpeachymom Member Posts: 518
    edited March 2018

    Walden- I had mastectomy and then radiation because I was node positive. I think the lymph nodes next to your breast bone are not easily accessible for them to check them. If your tumor is on the inner quadrant, perhaps they’re worried about those nodes. I had those and Axillary and supraclavicle nodes all radiated

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  • Walden1
    Walden1 Member Posts: 202
    edited March 2018

    I think you are correct about the breast bone nodes. One more question, do they actually target specific spots or just radiate the entire breast area

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  • Cpeachymom
    Cpeachymom Member Posts: 518
    edited March 2018

    Well the machine moves around, I had three fields- first my neck/ collarbone area, then chest from the left, then chest and Axilla from the right. So it’s not your entire chest, but it can cover several overlapping areas.

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  • Walden1
    Walden1 Member Posts: 202
    edited March 2018

    Thanks again. Congrats on finishing your treatments! I’m about to have a meeting with my surgeon to plan for masectomy without reconstruction with SLNB. Any suggestions on questions I should ask? I’m interested in knowing more about the surgery itself but also the pathology tests they do after. What kind of information did you get in your pathology report? I’ve been told Er positive rare achieves PCR, but it’s still considered successful systemic treatment. Was that discussed with you after pathology report came back

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  • Walden1
    Walden1 Member Posts: 202
    edited March 2018

    opps sorry about that last question on PCR, just noticed you didn’t need chemo. That is fantastic

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