I was diagnosed with 42mm of DCIS early March and went on to have a lumpectomy on the 25th of March. The histology results showed that I had two small invasive tumours. Because of this I had the sentinel node biopsy, but luckily this came back clear. I am under the Royal Marsden, so am happy that I am with a brilliant team, but have just noticed that another lady on here who is more or less the same age as me and also has dcis and a small tumour has been told she needs chemo as well. I have been advised to have a full mastectomy and possibly radiotherapy to the remaining breast tissue. I was told that chemo was not necessary as my invasive tumours were small and it was early disease. I am wondering why someone with a very similar diagnosis to me is being offered chemo. Don’t get me wrong I am really happy that its not been suggested, but I cant help wondering does that put me at more risk of it coming back somewhere else by not having it.
i always asked that question when i was dx why i was having chemo this is wot im told different hosptials do things differently and im also tripple negative so having chemo is the only other way to make sure they zapp it all, a back up as they put it and im 41 so young enough to go through with it after chemo i will be having rads too as there is nothing else i can have
hope that answer you a little bit more
maz xxx
Hello, The difference may be the grade of your tumours. If grade 1 then usually no chemo, but grade three tumours usually do mean chemo.
Grade 3 are aggressive, fast growing tumours.
I should ask your onc or BCN to explain your treatment.
Good luck. Stella xx
Hi stargazerlily
Whether or not you need chemo is down to a number of factors, not just the size of the tumour. It also depends on whether or not your BC is hormone receptive (which will probably be indicated on your test results by ER 7/8, for example), how old you are, and how aggressive the tumour is.
I suggest you phone the BCC helpline and they will explain it all to you, and go over your diagnosis with you.
Sarah x
Thanks ladies.
I was told my cancer was hormone postive, but thats all I know as didnt ask anymore. He also said when I had the nodes tested which were clear I was a double negative?? not sure what that means either. My tumours were small and grade two. What does triple negative mean.
thanks xx
Triple negative means the cancer doesn’t respond to oestrogen, progesterone or HER2. But you already know that your cancer is hormone positive, so you’re not triple negative.
Maybe your surgeon said that the nodes you had removed and tested were both clear? Which would be good news since it indicates that the cancer hasn’t spread beyond your breast. Hopefully you will get copies of letters from your surgeon to your GP which confirm what he said, or you will see him again soon and can ask more questions. It might help to write out a list of questions and take it with you, that’s what I do, otherwise it’s so easy to forget what you wanted to ask.
Sarah x
Hi thanks sarah.
I had the sentinel node biopy two weeks ago, and that came back clear. He definitely said double negative about that. They took two nodes out, maybe hes saying there both negative. I was so pleased that there was no spread that I didnt think anymore about the terminology. My sister, who is a solicitor always comes and asks questions and takes notes. I agree if you dont do that, you end up coming out thinking why did I not ask this, or what does that mean. I am having an MRI scan tomorrow to have both breasts looked at. The consultant said that he thinks its a waste of time as the outcome is going to be the same, as they cant rule out miscroscopic disease even if it cant be seen. He said it was discussed in the multi disciplinary meeting and that is what was decided, but I do tend to agree with him, in if its all going to have the same outcome, why bother with the scan.
I would still have the MRI scan - it will give more information and information is (nearly) always useful.
Do you know why they are recommending that you have a mastectomy instead of breast conserving surgery?
Well, hmm this is a good question. I was under my local hospital up until three weeks ago, and they said that becase I had a lot of high grade dcis as well as the two small tumours. They could not be sure that there is not alot more in the breasts as the area of the dcis was huge. I was given no option but a mastectomy. With being told that I decided in the space of an hour to have a bilateral!! Anyway my mum is recovering from lobular, three years post diagnosis, and she was under they royal marsden and my family have been nagging me to get a second opinion, so decided that maybe this was the best thing to do. I went there and saw the new consultant who was quite shocked at my bilateral decision, and said they wanted to do there own tests on the tissue taken by my old hospital. I went back on Tuesday to get my results, but saw a different member of the team. He is not a registrar he is a specialist, whatever that means. Anyway he said as my first hospital had said that because of the amount of dcis the best route would be to do the full mastectomy, but lol I am going back to see the consultant to get the scan results on 31st may, and shes definitely one for trying to preserve the breast, so will be interesting to see what she says. Its so bloody hard, when you get different opinions. But as my husband says that what they are opinions, you need to do whats best for you. I was also told by the doctor i saw this week that the chance of it coming back in the other breast is five times more likely than someone who has not had bc, hence me thinking seriously about the bilaeral.
ps the small tumours were invasive and grade two. The DCIS was high grade and a large area.