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Newly diagnosed invasive ductal and lobular in right breast
Breast Cancer | Last Active: Aug 28 9:05am | Replies (85)Comment receiving replies
Hello again,
Prior to surgery I had a PET scan and MRI with positive results (or so I thought). Everything looked that it had shrunk or was completely gone. After surgery both my oncologist and mastectomy surgeon were taken back as the cancer and the scans did not match. I had 22 of 22 lymph nodes removed - all cancerous. The two small breast tumors also showed cancer. I did a single mastectomy. My follow up with my Oncologist was unnerving he said that my type of cancer (Invasive lobular carcinoma) had a high rate of returning (50-75%). He said the reason was they cannot detect it well. I found this very upsetting - first the confusion between the scans and what was actually there. I asked him if this was going to take me out and he said most likely if it comes back. They said they were going to monitor it closely but if they can't detect it how do we fight it? I am not giving up just finding this very confusing. Has anyone else faced this type of situation? Thank you any and all feedback greatly appreciated. I will start radiation late September or October.
Replies to "Hello again, Prior to surgery I had a PET scan and MRI with positive results (or..."
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Initially, it was thought that I had lobular cancer. If you check the research, the rate of return of that cancer is not 50-70%. It is commonly 12% recurrence or less. The testing done on my tumor initially showed that I had a 98-99.5% of cure and less than 4% chance of recurrence. My oncologist told me that my results were not uncommon for lobular. What happens with lobular with a mastectomy is that it may return in your bones, liver or stomach. They don't catch it as quickly because there is no breast tissue for it to return to. That's how my oncologist explained it to me. If you have access to another oncologist, I suggest that you pick their brain regarding recurrence. and what you need to do to stay on top of any potential recurrence. Also, an Oncotype test will tell your oncologist whether chemo will help and if so, how much, as well as your specific rate of recurrence, based on your tissue. Best of luck to you!