Two sisters with same breast cancer- what be learned

I am not a researcher or medical professional. The idea of biopsy seeding, while certainly possible, is generally considered rare, though not impossible. As for using you and your sister for research or case studies, I'm afraid that the two of you don't provide enough data by yourselves, to support that. Is there some type of similar study going on with a larger sample than just two? Perhaps, so you might want to search for that or ask your mo if she knows of such a study.
As for “feeling" that seeding occurred for your sister, well, a feeling isn't considered science based evidence. Whether you agree or disagree is immaterial. Currently, research is conducted based on facts. As far as going through tx for nothing, there is NO treatment currently available that will guarantee that a patient won’t have a recurrence or metastasize and I hope your sister was made aware of that by her mo.All the best.

calf - you got quite a few responses on your other site. In general it's a good idea to stick with one site so the people who are following get the whole picture. When you get a chance, please go to My Profile and put your diagnosis and treatment to date. It helps people who want to respond know the background.

I agree with the posters above - while you can choose to pass on treatment based on science if you want, it leaves you in danger of not stopping something in it's tracks by clinical methods.

I think everyone was pretty much in agreement that a biopsy is VERY unlikely to spread cancer. In fact, I learned something about my own recurrence from a post shared by another member. I'll re-post below.

"Like a lot of cancers, breast cancer grows by simple cell division. It begins as one malignant cell, which then divides and becomes two bad cells, which divide again and become four bad cells, and so on. Breast cancer has to divide 30 times before it can be felt. Up to the 28th cell division, neither you nor your doctor can detect it by hand."

"With most breast cancers, each division takes one to two months, so by the time you can feel a cancerous lump, the cancer has been in your body for two to five years. It can certainly seem like a lump appeared out of nowhere – especially if you or your doctor have recently examined your breasts and not felt anything suspicious – but in reality, the cancer has simply doubled that one last time necessary to be noticeable. By the time you can feel it, a breast tumor is usually a little more than one-half inch in size – about a third the size of a golf ball. It has also been in your body long enough to have had a chance to spread"
Here is a nice explanation of the above concepts from: https://oregon.providence.org/forms-and-information/a/ask-an-expert-breast-cancer-growth-rate/

Calfam04, There are lots of folks here who are de novo Stage IV. Surgery, radiation, and cancer fighting drugs did not cause our mets, and often they were found "by accident" .

"Cryoablation followed by good nutrition, supplements, counseling, and 8 hours of regular sleep each night seem to be working very well for me"

I'm glad you're happy with your approach, and I hope you don't progress. It is probably NOT the best approach for everyone.

The one point that I agree with is every person has to follow their own convictions about what is the best course of treatment. Personally, I'll take the extra years and quality of life that conventional treatment can provide, and new treatment trials are the path to better treatment, and - dare i say it? - a cure.

If family members were used as sole research specimens and qualified as definitive, it would be short changing a lot of women.

Simply because you are related isn't enough. You yourself said you had totally different lifestyles, so what or how would they "study" and research this? If you asked 1000 women what their pathology report was, I'd bet more than a dozen would have "the exact same pathology report." That's not a basis of studying how the cancer developed. I could go on why scientifically, your idea would not be plausible, but I totally understand your frustration.

I am so deeply sorry you and your sister are having to deal with this. And yes, all of us here are angry that we are in the 21st century and still dealing with fairly "primitive" (meaning only a few fairly new options) treatments. When you're told you have cancer, you want to know why. That's normal. The problem is, there isn't an answer yet. Anger, frustration, depression...all those happen but in hopes of survival, we do the best treatments we can with the information that is current and available.

You said your sister's first mammogram was at 58; if you want to do the "what if" scenario, then what if she had the cancer at 50 and she waited so long to get a diagnosis that the cancer had already spread. They found the site of the original start of the cancer with the mammogram, but that doesn't prevent cancer from spreading and being discovered later. My DH has metastatic prostate cancer. We have no idea when it metastasized since he did not go for routine PSA/prostate checks and his mets findings were incidental.

I'm not sure how you detected that your tumor is shrinking. I sincerely hope that it is, but there's really only one way to find out...even with imaging, they thought my tumor would be 7mm. It turned out to actually be 1.8cm. And no one...doctor, tech, ultrasound or mammogram were able to detect the tumor at all, so palpating a mass doesn't give you much accuracy.

Your sister's willingness to use science based treatments, follow the best doctor advice she can gives her hope to extend her life. It's not the other way around. Ignoring science and waiting are not usually advised.

I wish you both the best of luck through this journey. We all have to follow what we feel is right for us, then live with the outcomes that come from that. I wish you strength and conviction in your decisions and may they be wise ones.

Wallycat, sorry to hear that hubby has pc while you have bc. I’ve had to deal with both those cancers. Loved your post and the Advice you are suggesting. Ditto the others here recommending evidence-based scientific treatment. I have to say, being around these boards for six years now, that the treatments that are omitted are the treatments many regret.

Calfam, don’t take this disease too lightly. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, as your sister discovered. If she had a recurrence with treatment, you could well find that the light treatment you’re suggesting could turn into a similar result.

Good luck with whatever you decide.