Anyone diagnosed with a recurrence with mets to the sternum?

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pesky904
pesky904 Member Posts: 402
edited February 2019 in Just Diagnosed With a Recurrence or Metastasis

My oncologist is extremely concerned now because I have a tiny spot on my breast bone/sternum that is very sore to the touch, has an internal itch and feels very slightly elevated when I run my hand over it. It's on the bone, right at the edge of where the implant meets the bone on my non-cancer side.

She said mets to the sternum is rare but the one patient she's ever had whose recurrence spread to the sternum, it sounds just like what I'm experiencing. But it didn't show up on imaging because the rim of the implant is right there and the rim also enhances on imaging (that's very common with implants and they see implant rim enhancement all the time).

Not seeing the surgeon until next week (my mother died unexpectedly on Tuesday and I have so much on my plate right now - but please, if you have had this, please be brutally honest. Don't feel as though you'll be adding to my stress by being honest. I would rather know so I can prepare).

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  • NancyHB
    NancyHB Member Posts: 1,512
    edited February 2019

    pesky, I'm so sorry about your mother. *hug* my mother died unexpectedly two days before my mets diagnosis. It was a very difficult and exhausting time. I hope you're able to find time to care for yourself now, and in the coming weeks.

    I have a spot if my fourth left lateral rib - and recently a new spot of my sternum. It shows up on both the bone scan and CT scan. The radiologist has classified it as “indeterminate" for now but my MO has expressed this is highly likely another met. For now I'm cautious and careful of the spot and not willing to do anything. I want to wait a little longer before considering radiation. Are you scheduled for a biopsy anytime soon?

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  • pesky904
    pesky904 Member Posts: 402
    edited February 2019

    Thank you, NancyHB! Did you feel the spot on your rib or sternum, or was it just found during a scan?

    I don't know if they will biopsy anything. My appointment to be seen by the surgeon is Tuesday. I had an MRI and ultrasound a few weeks ago for a pea-sized lump between my rib and the implant on the cancer breast side and it showed nothing. This sternum issue just started this week. The MRI from 3 weeks ago showed an area of enhancement there but they said it was from the implant.

    There is a little teeny tiny nodule there now, like the size of a grain of rice, right on the bone, and like I said, it hurts to the touch and there's an internal itchy feeling, exactly like with my original tumor in 2017.

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  • NancyHB
    NancyHB Member Posts: 1,512
    edited February 2019

    The area is rather difficult for me to assess, as it's directly under both of my previous tumors. The tissue in that area is all gone and the scar is now adhered to the chest wall; I don't know if the lumps and bumps I feel are normal bony structures, or something more. The location and the fact this spot lights up so beautifully on both bone and CT is what makes my MO believe it's a new met (she says if the CT and bone scan correlate an area, it's highly probable to be mets. If it shows on one scan but not another, it could be but warrants more follow-up). It's tender when I press gently on it, and sometimes hurts if I'm in a deep yoga twist or heart opener, so I mostly avoid those now. I go back for scans again in June and we'll reassess then. She refuses to stick a needle in either my rib or sternum because there's too much risk of lung puncture so as long as I feel pretty good, we leave it alone.

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  • KBeee
    KBeee Member Posts: 5,109
    edited February 2019

    As hard as it is, focus on the matter at hand and do not jump to conclusions based on feel. Wait until you see the surgeon and then request a plan to find out exactly what the spot is. Hoping you get answers soon and that they are benign. I am very sorry about your mother.


    Do keep us posted.

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  • WC3
    WC3 Member Posts: 1,540
    edited February 2019

    There was some concern I had sternum mets for a while. That has not been proven but in the time I spent researching it I learned that isolated sternum mets are highly treatable. They can actually remove the entire sternum and give you a prosthetic one if necessary.


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  • vlnrph
    vlnrph Member Posts: 1,632
    edited February 2019

    Among the numerous sites where my diffuse osseous metastases were noted, sternum was included. The list also specified spine, right distal clavicle, left scapula, left and right proximal humerus, right ribs, pelvis, sacrum and proximal femurs. I have not yet done a follow-up PET but my tumor marker is now down to double digits so that is a good trend. My only noticeable symptoms have been in the lower lumbar and upper thoracic vertebrae.

    I do hope our original poster has a chance to relax this weekend and absorb all the positive messages and memories folks are undoubtedly sending in connection with her mom’s unexpected death.

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  • GG27
    GG27 Member Posts: 2,128
    edited February 2019

    pesky, firstly, I am so sorry about your mother, it's distressing to lose a parent, I lost my mom to alzheimers while I was going through my own breast cancer diagnosis.

    I have a sternum met, among others. They actually took the bone biopsy from it as it was easier than other locales. I won't lie, I was scared to death, but honestly, it wasn't bad at all. DH & I left on a driving trip from the hospital. I took a tylenol that was it. good luck. GG

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  • pesky904
    pesky904 Member Posts: 402
    edited February 2019

    Thank you all for your kindness and your replies. Could any of you feel your sternum Mets? This spot feels extremely extremely tiny but it is definitely a raised bump. The internal itch is really annoying as there is nothing I can do for it.

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  • chloesmomandcgswife
    chloesmomandcgswife Member Posts: 16
    edited February 2019

    I just had a core needle biopsy on my sternum, and my it is malignant. I didn't feel anything before the biopsy, but now it is like I am connected to it. I am part of the Mets crew now and trying to stay strong. I am so sorry about your mother, my mother passed a while back and I can't imagine going through this at the same time.

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  • pesky904
    pesky904 Member Posts: 402
    edited February 2019

    I'm so sorry to hear that, chloesmoman. When you say you felt nothing before the biopsy, do you mean you didn't have pain or anything? did you feel any lump at all? What made them decide to do a biopsy?

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  • chloesmomandcgswife
    chloesmomandcgswife Member Posts: 16
    edited February 2019

    Exactly, I didn't feel anything. I was going in for reconstruction surgery and the spot showed up on an MRI. They did a CT scan and decided to do the core needle biopsy. If I hadn't opted for the reconstructive surgery who knows how long it would have taken for them to find out my cancer had come back and spread to my bones.

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  • pesky904
    pesky904 Member Posts: 402
    edited February 2019

    Wow, that is amazing but thank God they found it. I had my reconstruction in November and they didn't see anything. I didn't have this painful spot on my sternum until now, 2 months after surgery. The surgeon feels it is due to the surgery and will go away.

    I had an MRI three weeks ago due to a tiny lump on the cancer side (exactly where the original tumor was). They didn't see the lump on MRI at the time (it has since grown and I now have a lump in my lower armpit that the surgeon feels is normal).

    In the spot where I am feeling the pain on my sternum, the MRI report says there is some "thin rim enhancement" seen that is "likely related to the patient's reconstructive surgery." I can feel the my rib and the edge of the implant, but also feel a tiny, tiny bump even smaller than a grain of rice.

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  • chloesmomandcgswife
    chloesmomandcgswife Member Posts: 16
    edited February 2019

    Well then you may be in the clear!! I pray to God that you are. I do not know if I will get to still have my reconstructive surgery now. :(

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  • pesky904
    pesky904 Member Posts: 402
    edited February 2019

    I hope you get to have your exchange. After your initial cancer, did they tell you that you were high risk for recurrence? I hope all of what I'm experiencing is nothing, but I'm not sure how fast a bone met can develop or how big it has to be to be seen on MRI. There was enhancement but they chalked it up to being the implant.

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  • pesky904
    pesky904 Member Posts: 402
    edited February 2019

    so my MRI is finally available on my patient portal today (just the report, not the images). It says “thin rim enhancement is seen in the left parasternal region, mainly involving the subcutaneous soft tissue and to a lesser extent the underlying chest musculature." This is exactly where I am feeling this one spot that is painful. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

    *This is the MRI I had back on January 10. At the time, I could only feel the one tiny lump on the right side, in the lower outer quadrant near the site of my core needle biopsy, a few millimeters, between the rib and the implant (that lump is now bigger, and there is a lump in the upper outer quadrant, right in the lower corner of my armpit.

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  • pesky904
    pesky904 Member Posts: 402
    edited February 2019

    I should add also, my implant is under the muscle (retropectoral).

    And what subcutaneous soft tissue are they referring to? I had a complete mastectomy, isn't all the tissue gone?

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  • pesky904
    pesky904 Member Posts: 402
    edited February 2019

    Just heard from my oncologist's office. They are squeezing me in tomorrow, but I'm not even seeing my oncologist! I'm seeing her nurse instead. The whole point was for my oncologist to see and feel these new changes so she would have a baseline to know how things have changed at my next follow up.

    I feel like the nurse (who didn't feel the lump when I first found it in January) is not going to know how much it's changed and things are going to get lost in translation. This is so frustrating.

    Kind of also makes me feel like they are viewing me as some kind of hypochondriac. When my oncologist was the one who was concerned in the first place.

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