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diagnosed stage 3a but skin biopsy clear
Hello. I have an interesting situation. I have bilateral breast cancer. The left breast tumor seemed to have skin involvement--you could see the tumor making a small tent in the skin. Surgeon did a skin biopsy after the other biopsy. It came back with no cancer cells in skin. My team doesn't believe it, so they are calling it stage 3a. Anyone had an experience like this? Thank you.
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I don’t have a situation like this but is there an option to have the tissue sent elsewhere for another analysis?
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1 ReactionHello,if you meant the cancer kind of protruded outward,then that is what I had,due to the size of the tumor(12 cm),that's actually how I discovered it.When I had the mastectomy,they basically removed most of the skin as well,so there's just enough skin left to cover the ribs underneath(they are very visible).It was staged 3c.I've been cancerfree for over 10 years now,and I am sure grateful they took this rather radical approach.I recall that the tumor had not been attached to the chest muscle,as that would definitely have meant skin involvement.
I am not sure if this of any help;I wish you the best of luck in your recovery!
I don't know. Interesting idea. Thanks.
Yes, I think so if I understand you right. So they determined it was in your skin? But not the chest wall, it sounds like. For me, the cancer was under the skin but kind of pointing out so the skin was tight across it. It's right in the cleavage area. The anastrozole has shrunk it from 1.8 cm to 1.2, and it doesn't poke up anymore. But the pathology report says no skin involvement and my doctors just can't believe it.
I had extensive skin involvement, and it was also in the chest wall and lymph nodes. Because I was triple negative most of my treatments were going to kill the cancer in the skin anyway, so it wasn't much different for me, except that the skin was the only painful part of cancer and that left once I started chemo.
Did they say what they would do if the biopsy had revealed cancer? If your doctor doesn't believe it sounds like they might be open to you getting a second biopsy or a second opinion. If they sign off on it I would go for that. Hugs!
Thank you! Gosh, that sounds rough. I think the treatment is pretty much the same with skin involvement or without. They said if I wanted a mastectomy, it could make a difference but they didn't explain how. They were going to talk about another skin biopsy. I don't know if I'm up for that, but I am up for a second opinion, perhaps.