I’ve been waiting on the pathology results following MX on 28th Jan, consultant phoned me today to advise that she wouldn’t be around to see me for another week but that she wanted to let me know the pathology was “kinda good” (her words) Lymph nodes clear and no spread in the breast other than the 17mm tumour ( will ask her why the tumour was described as 11mm at diagnosis - does that mean the ultrasound isn’t that accurate, or does it mean its grown in the 5 weeks between biopsy and surgery - anyhow? ) No discussion about grade of cancer, but she was very quick to point out that I will need treatment and that she’ll explain why when we meet.
Sorry I’m being a bit pathetic I know - its like I kind of know its good news but I need someone to tell me that and specifically in what way its good news. ( can’t believe I’ve got a responsible job in another life ) Please help / indulge me in speculating what it might mean.
Hi. Having clear lymph nodes is very good news I think! Also ‘Kinda good’ sounds a hell of a lot better than anything without the word ‘good’ in it. However it’s inevitable we try to read between the lines of what is said and how it was said. It’s such a tense time. If you have more questions about your surgery, you could phone up your breast care nurse - she may be able to give you a lot more info.
I can’t comment on the increase in size of lump, but can say you’ve got good news on two fronts. When you look at the prognosis statistics, it is always GOOD NEWS if there is no spread to lymph nodes. Also, the size of the lump is taken into account, and the best prognosis is always for lumps less than 2cm. So even tho’ your lump is bigger than you thought it’s still under 2cm so you are still in the best place to be there as well.
I don’t know too much about the differnt types of tumours but the fact that you’ve had good news about your lymph nodes and that you’ve had a mastectomy means the cancer is getting beaten - hopefully the treatment they want to do will be preventative and provide you with protection long term. I had DCIS with 5 mm invasive and had a mastectomy and reconstruction. because I’d had a mastectomy they were confident they’d got the cancer but I’m on Tamoxifen for 5 years - I liken it to having my Ready Brek glow - its my ring of protection. Good luck - hope its all positive and treatment plans go well.
hi ive got grade2 hormone pos her2 neg 2/10 nodes involved ,tumours were 2 cms and 3 cms plus peppering totaling to 6.5cms,im alittle concerned about size,have questioned it with bc nurses but not really got straight forward answer.dose having this size make you more at risk. im starting chemo treatment next wed 17th, and my mind is working overtime!!!any advice would be reasuring xxx.
It’s good news that their is no lymph node involvement, I think with the size and grading it’ difficult to be totally accurate until after the op, and they have the histology report back.
Prior to my mast with immed recon, I was diagnosed grade 1, after the report came back I was grade 2, lobular as well as ducts and one out of six nodes infected, so I am now doing the chemo route, this was advised to do as an insurance, so rest assured you are going to be fine.
ultrasound is only a rough guide… it wont have grown in the 5 weeks… mine was showing 10mm on ultrasound i had surgery the next day… less than 24 hours later and was actually 19mm extending 25mm including areas of dcis.
often it depends on the angle the ultrasound is measured at as it looks mainly two dimensional on US whereas a the lump is 3 dimensional.
like everyone has said no nodes is good news, also a smal sized tumour is good news… most people get further treatment be that chemo, rads, hormones or targeted treatments or a mixture of them.
many things are taken into account as well as the size and whether there was node involvement like the type of cancer, the grade, if there was lymphatic or vascular invasion, your age and your general health as well.
for my first cancer grade 1, 13mm, ER pos, no nodes further treatment was rads and tamox, for 2nd cancer was grade 3, 17mm, hormone neg, lymphatic invasion, no nodes further treatment was chem and rads.
maisie although your tumour is slightly larger and you have some node involvement its still usually got a very favourable outcome… increased size does have a higher risk of recurrence or spread than a smaller tumour but also its not as high a risk as there is with even bigger tumours or where more or all nodes are affected.