Multiple tumors in the breast with different cancer types

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peaceandhappiness
peaceandhappiness Member Posts: 5

Multiple tumors in the breast with different cancer types

Hello, I was diagnosed with breast cancer on December 1 2017. I had a mastectomy of my left breast on Jan 4th 2018. It turns out that I had 3 tumors in that breast which were all different kinds of cancer. One was metaplastic (which occurs in less than 1% of all breast cancers), one was IDC, and the other was adenosquamas carcinoma. All three are triple negative. Has anyone else had anything similar to this? It’s been 4 weeks since my mastectomy and my doctors have still have not come up with a treatment plan. Thank you in advance for reading my post.




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  • Trishyla
    Trishyla Member Posts: 1,005
    edited January 2018

    Different kind of cancer, but yes, I had 8 tumors spread across both breasts with 4 distinct types of cancer. ER/PR + , HER2- IDC and ILC on the left with 7 foci, and triple negative IDC and ILC on the right. Had 5 months of neoadjuvant chemo then a BMX with immediate Diep flap reconstruction, then 5 months of Xeloda. Just finished my final chemo on January 2nd. It's a hard regimen, but doable.

    I know it's tough right now, but it will be better when you have a treatment plan in place.

    Sending hugs. Let us know what treatment you'll be having.

    lTrish

  • dtad
    dtad Member Posts: 2,323
    edited February 2018

    Hi. I had 2 tumors in mt left breast. One was IDC and the other was ILC. The ILC only showed up on a preoperative MRI for the IDC. It was missed on both a 3D mammo and U/S. So if I didn't have IDC I never would have know I had ILC. Funny how something good comes out of something bad. Good luck to all...

  • meganin
    meganin Member Posts: 4
    edited February 2018

    Hello Peaceandhappiness,

    Sorry to hear about your diagnosis. I have studied triple-negative breast cancer for three years, and I know that this subtype of breast cancer is very aggressive, has few treatment options, poor prognosis, and has a low five year survival. No time should be wasted after diagnosis. I would recommend that you get in touch with your doctor and discuss the treatment plan as soon as possible. A therapeutic approach for this type of cancer is multimodality treatment that combines surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. I hope all goes well for you.

  • Insideout2
    Insideout2 Member Posts: 128
    edited February 2018

    I found out I had two primaries when I had a MRI guided biopsy.

  • Meow13
    Meow13 Member Posts: 4,859
    edited February 2018

    I am similar to dtad except my 2 tumors were er+ and pr-. I was told mastectomy was indicated. Four months later did the DIEP.

  • peaceandhappiness
    peaceandhappiness Member Posts: 5
    edited February 2018

    Wow Trish, you had a doozy. You must be one strong woman! How are you feeling now? Is your life getting back into a normal or semi-normal routine again ? I sure hope so.

  • peaceandhappiness
    peaceandhappiness Member Posts: 5
    edited February 2018

    dTad, So lucky they found it! Where are you now in your treatment?

  • peaceandhappiness
    peaceandhappiness Member Posts: 5
    edited February 2018

    meow13, what is a DIEP? Is that the type of reconstruction you had? I’m not caught up on the acronyms yet.

  • Trishyla
    Trishyla Member Posts: 1,005
    edited February 2018

    I'm working on it, peaceandhappiness. I just finised my final Xeloda on January 2nd. That was more for mop up, especially for the triple negative. The hardesdt part for me is not knowing what my odds are for reoccurance. Each one on It's own has a fairly low chance of metastecizing, but all of them combined? Who knows. Just have to take it one day at a time.

    Have they come up with a treatment plan yet? You may want to get a second opinion at a larger cancer center. They have more experience with "unusual " types of breast cancer. I'm fortunate that City of Hope is just a few miles from my house. Makes it easier knowing world renowned doctors are on your team!

    Keep us posted.

    Trish

  • peaceandhappiness
    peaceandhappiness Member Posts: 5
    edited February 2018

    Today was the big day...the day my doctors were going to tell me my treatment plan. They were suppose to have a plan ready at my post-op visit on Jan 10, but because my situation is so rare, they said they wanted to collaborate with the hospital's tumor board first . That meeting was on Jan 23. I walked in on Jan 25 (because I couldn’t get an appointment ) and asked about my plan, and they said they still don't know yet. Disappointing. So today, you know the big day my friends, family and I have been waiting for, the doctor walks into the room and says “ so what brings you in today?" My mouth just dropped to the floor. They (my surgeon, radiation oncologist, and chemo oncologist) hadn't even met to develop a plan! I was livid and walked out. Thank god I have a second opinion scheduled on Wednesday. I mean, I entrusted them with my life!

  • FaithsMama
    FaithsMama Member Posts: 126
    edited June 2018

    peaceandhappiness: What was your treatment plan?

    I had two tumors in one breast, each with a different type of cancer. I too am awaiting my treatment and oncotype. I too am told because of the rareness of my type of diagnosis, that a treatment plan will take longer to determine. 

    I do wonder how many of us are out there?

  • vlnrph
    vlnrph Member Posts: 1,632
    edited June 2018

    I had both ILC (finally seen on digital mammogram after years of 'architectural distortion' followed each time by unremarkable ultrasounds) and also a tiny non-palpable ductal tumor found by MRI in a separate quadrant.

    Presentation with multiple primaries, especially prior to menopause, might be a reason to consider genetic counseling. If a mutation is detected, that information may affect the treatment plan.

  • Qins
    Qins Member Posts: 3
    edited January 2021

    I just had a secondary cancer as invasive papillary carcinoma (stage 1) in left breast from pathology test on Dec 7, 2020. I was diagnosed with breast cancer on 05/27/2014 with er+, pr+, her-2/neu negative for Left breast upper inner infiltrating ductal Carcinoma...I am not sure if I should chose single or double mastectomy. Any experience and suggestions would be very helpful! Thanks for your support!

    I will let you know if it will take longer to determine my treatment plan due to rareness of my type of diagnosis from the secondary cancer...

    Qins

  • AliceBastable
    AliceBastable Member Posts: 3,461
    edited January 2021

    Qins, this is another old, inactive thread. Please start a new one that people will see and respond to.

  • My-Lan28
    My-Lan28 Member Posts: 12
    edited May 2021

    Hi Ladies

    I am new in this forum. I was diagnosed Breast Cancer on August, 2020 , I had cancer with 2 stages on both of my breast. My left breast had stage0 DCIS 5cm (grade 3) and beside it there were stage 1B IDC with multi focal tumors ( grade 2) of 1.7cm , 0.8cm, 0.3cm, 0.2cm, 0.2cm. My right breast again I had stage0 DCIS 0.8cm ( grade 2) and stage1A IDC 0.9cm (grade 2). No lymph nodes involved.

    I done all my treatments included of Bilateral Mastectomy, 4 chemos, 15 radiation and taking Tamoxifen. Right after my surgery my oncologist send my breast cancer sample to USA to get mamma print to see i am benefit from chemo. When the result come back with 19% risk of recurrence but I took chemos, radiation and Tamoxifen, it will bring down to 7% of risk of recurrence. I am very scare, I had 2 young kids 7 and 13. I am 46 this year. Anyone long term BC survivors whom had the same condition like my case , please contact me, give me some hope, support for this journey.

  • BCSucks1
    BCSucks1 Member Posts: 26
    edited June 2021

    I have mixed ductal lobular breast cancer - multiple tumors -from grade 1 to 3. I had a double mastectomy followed by chemo and radiation. Did tamoxifen for 2 years. I just tried Letrozole but had bad reactions. Taking a two week break and I’ll try one of the amatose inhibitors. It’s very frustrating the lack of studies on my specific area. They say to treat it like lobular but …

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