this is in the tissue under my arm near to my rib cage, i had the breast removed 16 months ago, it was a grade 3, i didn’t have chemo, next friday i have to go for an ultra sound scan as my surgeon is worried about this new lump, has anyone else had this happen? i had 9 lymph nodes removed prior to surgery and they were all clear, but possible vascular invasion was reported on my histology. any one elses experience would be good
Alisonxxx
Hi Alison
I have just had a local recurrence and had surgery to remove the new lump on 15th January. I had a mastectomy in Dec '07 and found a lump below my scar, (virtually in the same place as my original lump), in November '08.
(My original lump was grade 3 - I had chemo, surgery and radiotherapy, followed by Herceptin. (My lymph nodes were clear.))
I have only recently heard about vascular invasion and intend to ask my oncologist about this, when I see him in a fortnight.
Good luck with your scan next week. Most of the posts on here have a good result - i.e. just fatty tissue or scar tissue. I have my fingers crossed that this will be your result too.
Best wishes,
Sally
Hi Sally, i only see my surgeon as i only wanted to see him as i really didn’t like the oncologist, it worries me more that the surgeon i see is the one who has done all my breast surgery, but hopefully it will be just a lump of scar tissue that has moved, this lump seems to be sitting along side my rib cage right under the left armpit.
vascular invasion depends on how near to blood vessels the tumour is near, i only know about that due to demanding a copy of my histology, as on one page it had me down as having a none malignant tumour, and that it was a grade 2, then on the other page it went into more detail about it being a malignant 1.6mm grade 3 with possible vascular invasion seen, my samples all had to be done again to check the grade, and it was a grade 3, but by this time i had had my ovaries out and a total hysterectomy and had gone onto an aromataise inhibitor i had an argument with the onc as he was convinced i was a grade 2, luckily the onc is now retired so he can’t make that sort of error with a patient again.
friday seems like miles away though, and its really hard to find enough to do to keep this away in a box in my head!
thank you so much for your reply Sally, i shall post here as soon as i get the results
Alisonxxxx
Hi Alison
First time I have read this thread. There are some similarities with our BC stories. Both times I have had clear nodes, however my last surgery in December showed vascular invasion. It was explained to me that with a malignant phyllodes tumor it is usually spread via the blood and not often via lymph nodes. I have also just been informed that it doesn’t sometimes respond well to chemotherapy which I have been having since May. It was due to finish Dec but then had the recurrence. So I need to find out whether chemo is really the right treatment, especially if this yet another recurrence.
I really hope that for you that this is scar tissue or fatty tissue and not a recurrence -everything still crossed. Be strong.
Dee.
How is the chemo working out for you?
My mom has had a recurrence of her phyllodes tumor after 34 months of being tumor-free. She is set to undergo radiation after having a radical mastectomy and is considering chemo.
Have you had radiation as well?
Alison-just to wish you luck
Love
Jane x