Treatment for post menopausal triple negatives

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BNA
BNA Member Posts: 2
edited June 2014 in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Treatment for post menopausal triple negatives
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  • BNA
    BNA Member Posts: 2
    edited March 2008

    I am post menopausal and triple negative.  My tumour was very small and grade 2.  At the moment there is no sign of it on the lymphs.  I have had a lumpectomy and the removal of 5 lymphs. I am now being recommended radiotherapy only.  Sounds risky to me.  Anyone with any experience

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  • smerf
    smerf Member Posts: 615
    edited March 2008

    What was your tumor size? Some docs recommend rads only if the tumor was very small. Did you get a second opinion? I think it would be valuable, because you have some doubts. I am also postmenopausal {almost 63} and grade 2. Tumor was 2cm, so I did 6 months of chemo. Another doc recommended 3 months, but I chose the most agressive tx.

    Hugs from another triple neg gal!

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  • CalGal
    CalGal Member Posts: 469
    edited March 2008

    On my original bc, I was stage 2 (2 cm tumor).  As an older newlywed wanting kids, I let the nodes be the deciding factor re:  chemo or not.  My SNB was all clear.  So, I did 38x rad'tn (after my bi-lat lump's) and did not do chemo.

    What no one told me is that while bc USUALLY spreads thru the lymph nodes first, it can ALSO SPREAD THRU THE BLOOD.  Less than one year after finishing rad'tn, I found a lump ... and due to asking for a CT scan - got one and more than I ever feared:  liver mets.   Even now, 2+ years post my mets dx, my nodes are clear ...

    As you know, trip neg bc tends to be aggressive and more responsive to chemo.  I'm also BRCA1 ...

    Not to scare you, but to give you info that tends to be completely overlooked by our doctors, so you can make an informed choice.

    CalGal 

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  • LisaSDCA
    LisaSDCA Member Posts: 2,230
    edited March 2008

    My sister's tumor was less than 1cm, 14 nodes were all clear. She did lumpectomy and rads, as advised. Nine months later she was Stage IV with metastasis in brain, bone and liver.

    Just another data point.

    Lisa

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  • HeatherBLocklear
    HeatherBLocklear Member Posts: 1,370
    edited March 2008

    Hi all,

    I've been advised by both my oncologist and T*tman to start with chemo, followed by surgery, and end up with radiation. He says this protocol is my "best" (read "only") chance of cure.

    Even though my mass is larger than those of most other women on this forum (and this fact alone could explain the aggressive treatment), they explained that triple negative is so fast-growing and angry that the treatment must be equally ferocious and all-encompassing to be effective.

    Annie

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  • ravdeb
    ravdeb Member Posts: 3,116
    edited March 2008

    Generally speaking, triple negs do chemo no matter what the size of the the tumor or whether it has gone to the lymph nodes. From some reading I've done, triple negs can spread with clear nodes as CalGal has said. Have seen it from meeting other women with triple neg. My good friend is triple neg, she originally had a small tumor and no node involvement. She now has lung and brain mets.She did CAF. They now suggest carboplatin and Taxotere to really hit it hard. I did AC and Taxol in 2005.

    I would get a second opinion. They say to hit it hard at the beginning....

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  • twink
    twink Member Posts: 1,574
    edited March 2008

    I think Narberthmom pointed out on a similar thread, that triple negs should be treated as node positive regardless (according to her top-notch onc).  I wouldn't mess around with lightweight treatment of a triple neg tumor.  I didn't, having done neoadjuvant chemo, bilateral mastectomy, axillary node dissection, adjuvant chemo and radiation.  We don't have an abundance of other treatment options available so take the first shot as the best shot, in my opinion.

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  • snowyday
    snowyday Member Posts: 1,478
    edited March 2008

    Get a second opinion, triple negative cancer is aggresive and I was told surgury, chemo and rads.  I've never heard of anyone being treated with only rads.  I would want to hit it hard and fast. Hope this didn't scare you, but get a second opinion. Pearl

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  • nomadnan
    nomadnan Member Posts: 9
    edited March 2008

    Hi, BNA--

    My 3 different opinions said: you chose a lumpectomy, not a mastectomy.

    If you'd chosen the mastectomy, no radiation.

    Today, the standard of care (they said almost in unison) is lumpectomy with radiation for the breast, and chemo for the rest of your body (for that chance cell that flew off into some other part of your body).

    Going into this, even after surgery in Nov, I didn't even plan on radiation. Needless to say, those opinions slapped me right into reality--I'm now halfway thru my 4 CT chemo txs. I'm also postmenopausal, and 60.

    Just wanted to chime in that maybe you might want to go for another opinion, and I wish you, and everyone here, the very best.

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  • guitarGrl
    guitarGrl Member Posts: 697
    edited March 2008

    A friend who was dx a week before me & who is triple negative got a single mast, might still have to have radiation. Triple negative is scary (a real medical term). Nothing you decide seems to be a guarantee of anything.



    In my case chemo was otional according to the card the doctors carry, but I went with it after getting a second opinion (via email), after talking with some people here, and after doing some hard core research. There was one article in particular - don't remember where it was now - that said you have to be aggressive with triple neg tumors.



    I'm still not sorry I did a lump rather than the mast. Not for any vanity but because I didn't want such drastic surgery. If I have to do it sometime later, I'll be ready though. I'm also half-way through 4 CT txs. I hate the way I feel, but I'd hate it more if it spread and I hadn't done all I could do to stop it.



    I also went for a BRCA test because I wanted to rule out and/or include in considerations the results of that test. Finally a negative I could be happy about.

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  • sharebear
    sharebear Member Posts: 332
    edited March 2008

    I'm with ravdeb. I've had both. Lumpectomy, radiation and chemo when I was premenopausal - trip neg. Bilateral mastectomy and chemo when I was post menopausal. 12 years apart. Both trip neg. with negative nodes and Stage 1. It's an aggressive cancer that can bypass the nodes and hit the blood stream.

    Second opinion.

    Sharon

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  • Shirlann
    Shirlann Member Posts: 3,302
    edited March 2008

    Hi sister, I am a triple negative with no nodes and a small cancer.  I had a lumpectomy and rads, only.  That was almost 9 & 1/2 years ago.  No two people are alike, but that was all that was recommended then.  I went to UCLA's Komen Breast Cancer Center and they said the exact same thing.  So I did not have any chemo.

    I was 63 then, I am 72 now.  I am fine.  Gosh I wish we had a dang crystal ball.

    Gentle hugs, Shirlann

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  • guitarGrl
    guitarGrl Member Posts: 697
    edited March 2008

    Shirlann - one of these days the SD lunch will be when you can make it, so I can prove to myself that you are real. Have a good vacation.



    susan

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