Hi Ive just been told I have stage 3 breast cancer which is the most fast growing !!! Also had Mastectomy and lymph glands removed all with in three days I was told the stages where 1 - 3 !!! This really scares me has any one got anything reasurring they can tell me about being stage 3 because at the moment this is the part that scares me the most …
From Lisa 39 years old with two beautiful children xxxxxx
Hi Lisa,
I was diagnosed in Feb 07, was 28, with stage 3 IDC - had mastectomy, lymph nodes, chemo, rads and Herceptin. Am clear at the moment 2 years on. Back at work, have my hair back! Energy levels pretty good, and feeling fairly balanced and happy with life. I don’t know much medically to be reassuring about stage 3, but when I was diagnosed my onc said to me that they tailor the treatment to you and the drugs they use are the best for your cancer. Everyone is different, but there is always hope - yes it’s a horrible bl88dy disease but you can get through the treatment. Take it a day at time and do what you can to keep yourself calm and enjoying the little things. There is life around and beyond cancer - even if it doesn’t always feel like it. I feel like cancer will always be part of my life but am at the stage now where it’s not always the first things I think about when I wake up or the last thing when I go to sleep. It doesn’t make my blood run cold or terrify me the way it did in the beginning. In some ways I feel stronger, because I have dealt with something I didn’t see coming, and still feel mostly like me… you can do this, just don’t be hard on yourself, be kind to yourself… Lots of luck xxx
Hi lisa,
Like you i was 39 and grade 3 breast cancer (i thought there were 4 stages but i might be wrong). I was diagnosed 3 months ago. Ive had a lumpectomy and have just began chemo. I am hormone positive and her2+. It is a worrying time!!
My onc said that if i accept all treaments offered to me the chances of it returning are small. Lets try and cling on to take thought!! Im looking forward to being in that place where lizalou is, when cancer doesnt rule my thoughts!!
Try and be positive
Big hugs Chelle x x
Thanks Liz thats helped me take the next step …
Hi Lisa
I was DX in May 07 at the age of 41 with a 13mm IDC and had WLE with full node clearance and told I needed radiotherapy with chemo a possibility. When I went for my post-op results I was told that it was grade 3 and I was really shocked by this. This meant I would definately need the chemo.
For months and months I fretted over the grade 3 thing but then learnt from this site and from reading loads of different ladies situations that many many younger women are grade 3. It is still the one thing that I worry about most but I am also coming up to two years on and I am keeping very well, I am back at work, look normal again and most of the time feel like my old self. Aches and pains panic me and check-ups send me into a bit of a spin but otherwise I try not to let the cancer and the possibility of it recurring rule my life and this, like any life changing event, gets easier with time.
Good luck with everything and always know that this site will be there to help.
AJxxx
Hi Lisa
I think you mean Grade 3, Stage is about the size and spread, but grade is about how fast growing/aggressive it is. I was dx a year ago, age 34 with 2 kids under 4, and I also had a grade 3. My bcn told me that this is normal in younger women because your metabolism is faster and therefore the cancer grows faster. I didnt have any spread to nodes so didnt need chemo just rads and 5yrs hormone treatments for me now. Speak to your bcn if you are worried.
just picking up on what you have posted - I have grade 3 with no nodes involved but have had to have chemo rads and hormone treatment. Just wondered why??
does it depend on you onc??
hope you don’t mind me asking.
Vicky
I also have grade 3 with no nodes involved and also had to have Chemo,Rads and Tamoxifen , im not sure why treatments differ . Is it also to do with size of Tumour? not sure, but i was told i would have to have chemo because of the grade.
I should imagine that they take everything into account and then weigh up benifits vs risks ’
Lindiloo
I think they are taking into account a variety of factors - the type of cancer, size, grade, whether it was positive for the different hormones, whether they got clear margins and even where in the breast the cancer was… (close to chest wall - or near the surface etc etc etc) that’s one of the reasons why are told not to get too concerned if we think someone with the same results is getting different treatment as something might well be different…
Chemo may be recommended if you have lymphovascular invasion - LVI. It should say on your path report if you have it or not. LVI is an indication that there may be cancer cells in your bloodstream.
Grade 3 cancer is typical in younger women. Please don’t be alarmed by it - it just means that the cancer is faster growing. This can sometimes work in your favour as Grade 3 lumps come up quickly and as such are often found earlier. Grade 1s can be slow and sneaky and by the time they are discovered they have sometimes made it to the nodes.
Staging is far more important than grading. It is much better to have Stage 1 Grade 3 cancer than Stage 3 Grade 1 cancer.
But we all have to live with the pathology of our own cancers - it is what it is and worrying about it won’t change anything unfortunately.
Hi msmolly
I didnt have any vascular invasion - LVI ,but i agree stageing is far more important than gradeing, No 2 breast cancers are exactly the same so treatments will depend on indivual circumstances i would imagine.
Lindiloo
To Vicky and Lindiloo
My tumour was 2.1cm clear margins. Before surgery I was told that I would need chemo, but since finding out I was very er+ pr+ they said I could have zoladaex and tamoxifen which I was told do the same thing as chemo - zoladex stops the ovaries working and tamoxifen mops up any odd cells lurking in your body - and therefore didnt need chemo.
Even 3 months later when they found out I was her2 positive they said that chemo and herceptin would only make a 3% difference, so I still didnt have it.
Thankyou all so much it is really good to open my page and see how many of you out there can help me , as you can tell this is very very early days so need as much help as pos…
It is reasuring to know that 3 is more likley to do with me being young …
To MSMolly could you fill me in a bit more on stages as im yet to get the results so this info will help when I am at the stage with the questions I ask ,
Hi lisalisa
You may find it helpful to read the BCC booklet on understanding your pathology report as it will help explain your results.
If you would like a copy please go to the following link:-
breastcancercare.org.uk/server/show/nav.718/changeTemplate/PublicationDisplay/publicationId/91
I hope you fidn this helpful.
Kind regards
Sam (BCC Facilitator)
Thanks Sam
Hi
I had a 3cm tumour and Grade 3, no spread. The way I was told it by the surgeon and onc was that the Stage is the size and spread, the Grade is aggressiveness. My surgeon also said that in all her years she has never had a pre-menopausal woman who wasn’t a Grade 3. It’s all the hormone activity that we have before the menopause, it just speeds everything up. So it’s not at all unusual.
I was a Stage 3 because I was over 2cm (I think that’s the size) but I had no node involvement. However, because it was a Grade 3 ie very aggressive that put me straight into chemo, then rad, then Tam. A Stage 1 is small and usually has no spread to the nodes at all, a Stage 2 is between 1 and 2cm (I think) with or without spread, Stage 3 is over the 2cm with or without spread, and Stage 4 doesn’t matter about size, it is when it has spread right out to the system. You can have spread to the nodes at any stage, but Stage 4 is the stage where it has gone past the nodes.
Whether you get chemo or not depends entirely on your own set of circumstances but my surgeon said in general a Stage 1 is small with no spread so they can treat that with surgery and rad, then drugs if you need them. A stage 2 with no spread will also usually mean that, but they’ll consider chemo depending on circumstances, and obviously if it’s aggressive. A stage 3 with or without spread will almost certainly get chemo first and definitely when you have high grading. Stage 4 gets everything they can throw at it.
I might have misremembered something there but generally that was it.
Lisa, you’re the same stage and grade as me. Don’t worry about Stage 3, it’s just size and you can have a huge tumour and nodes and stay in Stage 3. And as I said above, they expect you to be a Grade 3 at your age. With all the treatment I have a really good prognosis.
Hi
I just want to correct something here
stage 1 less than 2 cm no nodes
stage 2A greater than 2 cm less than 5 no nodes
stage 2B greater 2 cm less than 5, up to 2 nodes positive
stage 3 a - 3c (can’t remember! but basically more positve nodes, and may involve regional spread)
stage 4 spread to distant organs and/or bones,
Cathy
Hi,
Thanks KatherineM for the info on stageing, my tumour was 2.3cm so guess that would make me 2A. Ive just looked up and copied this from Cancer research uk.
Stage 3 breast cancer
Stage 3 breast cancer is divided into 3 groups
Stage 3A means
* Although no tumour is seen in the breast, the lymph nodes under the arm contain cancer cells and are stuck together, but there is no sign of cancer spread or
* The tumour is 5 cm or less, the lymph nodes in the armpit contain cancer cells and are stuck to each other, but the cancer has not spread elsewhereor
* The tumour is more than 5 cm, the lymph nodes in the armpit contain cancer cells and may be stuck together, but there is no further spread
Stage 3B means
* The tumour is fixed to the skin or chest wall, the lymph nodes may or may not contain cancer cells, but there is no further spread
Stage 3C means
* The tumour can be any size and has spread to lymph nodes in the armpit and under the breast bone, or to nodes above or below the collarbone, but there is no further spread
Stage 4 breast cancer
* The tumour can be any size
* The lymph nodes may or may not contain cancer cells
* The cancer has spread or metastasised to other parts of the body such as the lungs, liver or bones
Hope it helps
Lindiloo x
Its all so different its hard to generalise and categorise people into stages (grades I agree are different).
I had Grade 1, 18mm tumour with 1/9 lymph nodes involved however the 1/9 was micrometastases so where does that have me fall? A few years ago I would have been node negative and some oncs would still treat me as such now however my onc treated me as node positive and offered me chemo.
By the way CaroleD I was 39 at DX so its not true that all premenopausal women are grade 3.
Lolly, tamoxifen wont mop up odd cells lurking in your body, it will stop the hormones feeding your cancer and encouraging it to grow, only chemo as far as I am aware can kill off any stray cells.
Also, are you sure Lolly re the fact that they think herceptin would only make a 3% difference if you are her2 positive? I thought it was higher than that and know a few women who are er and pr+ as well as her2+ and are having tamoxifen and herceptin. I’m not her2+ myself so maybe completely wrong here.
my tumour was exactly 2cm,no nodes,grade 2 TNeg so what stage am I?