Question regarding metastases

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jmg2350
jmg2350 Member Posts: 2
edited June 2018 in Just Diagnosed

Hi, I'm actually asking a question for my mother. She had a lumpectomy many years ago. Her dermatologist noticed a lump/leison on that

same breast. Biopsy came back as cancer HER2positive. My question is that she used the word metastatic. Isn't that when the cancer returns

in another part of the body? We cant get an appointment until the 6/29. She is so, so scared and I wonder if anyone knows why she would use that word.

Thanks


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  • beach2beach
    beach2beach Member Posts: 996
    edited June 2018

    Hi,

    Sorry to hear about your mom. May sound harsh but this was a dermatologist that to me is As if a dentist sees a mole on someones arm and calls it melanoma. Bet the derma would not appreciate that. He/she may not know the correct terminology and in my opinion should not be diagnosing you mom any further than what he/she did and saying it's time to see a BS. Your mom had a biopsy on the same breast that she had cancer on. Metastatic is when it spreads to other parts of the body. They would not know that unless tests/scans etc were to show that. I could be wrong but That's the way I understand it.

    Hopefully your mom can take some deep breaths and her appt can get pushed up sooner.


    Just linking this so you can see the definition nothing more than that..

    https://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/SurvivalandRisk...


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  • Lolis197138
    Lolis197138 Member Posts: 512
    edited June 2018

    Hi

    sorry to hear about your mom. Sometimes the word metastasis is used to identify the cancer that is present outside of the breast. so since thus is the derma they may be not using the right terminology. in this case find the lesion was on the same breast a loco recurrence term may be more appropriate. Further scans will determine the staging of the recurrence.

    Good luck yo your mom.


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  • edwards750
    edwards750 Member Posts: 3,761
    edited June 2018

    Agree with beach dermatologist should probably stick to her field of expertise. Metastatic is when it travels to other parts of your body.

    I know your Mom is scared. No way to alleviate her fears until she sees the doctor but try and keep her distracted and above all keep the faith.

    Diane

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  • buttonsmachine
    buttonsmachine Member Posts: 930
    edited June 2018

    I'm sorry to hear your mother is going through this. I might be able to shed some light on this - but it's impossible to say without knowing more details - so this is just in general terms.

    If your mother has breast cancer that has invaded the skin, it's called "skin metastasis." This is where it gets tricky: if the skin metastasis is limited to the breast area only, it is a local/regional recurrence - meaning not stage IV - but it is still considered to be "locally advanced" disease. However, skin metastasis can also be indicative of something more sinister going on, and can be associated with distant recurrence and stage IV disease. Your breast oncology team will be able to determine which scenario is the case for your mother, not the dermatologist. They will also need to do a lot more testing before they can even say for sure - it's pretty technical, and they may want to do more biopsies, a PET scan, etc., etc., before even making an official diagnosis.

    Skin metastasis can be tricky to treat, and not everywhere can deal with it effectively. I recommend that your mother get an opinion from a university teaching hospital or NCI designated treatment hospital before proceeding with a treatment plan. Best wishes to you, I know this is a hard situation. Feel free to PM me if you need to. *Hugs*

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