I’m 5 weeks post lumpectomy and lymph node removal and healing very well.
I was signed off work for a month but by week 3, I was feeling pretty much back to normal.
My results came back last week and luckily there was no lymph node involvement and they got clear margins, so no more surgery.
My report states what the biopsy initially said (Er8, PR8, HER2-, grade 2, 21mm IDC)
I’m waiting for the results on the oncotype test to see what my next line of treatment will be.
The surgery report said that I had high grade dcis and no vascular invasion.
My questions are; Is the vascular invasion related to my clear lymph nodes or is this blood vessels? Also is it common for grade 3 dcis to be downgraded into a grade 2 IDC?
Just interested really, I know there’s a lot of knowledge on this forum!
Happy Easter everyone. X
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Vascular invasion is when cancer cells have invaded blood vessels. It’s good you don’t have it - it’s another risk factor for spread as cells can travel via the blood stream as well as via the lymphatic system. I became metastatic through vascular invasion despite no lymph node involvement.
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Hi @zazzle03 it is quite common for histologies to be reclassified after surgery and the opportunity to rigorously test the tissue in a way that a bit taken out at biopsy can’t be. Size also can change. They originally told you that you had DCIS only? Generally DCIS would be category as high, medium or low grade rather than ascribed a number. It definitely wasn’t grade 3 IDC downgraded to grade 2 was it? Anyway it’s great news that you had clear margins, no lymph involvement and no LVI. Only around 30% of women with BC have to have chemo so hopefully your Oncotype score will be really low and you can avoid it. Well done on getting back to normality so quickly.
Thank you, sorry I didn’t explain very well.
From the biopsy and scans my cancer was confirmed as a grade 2 IDC, it was just in the report after surgery that showed high grade DCIS also found and removed. I assumed that’s where the IDC started from and was part of the mass they took out. It doesn’t say the size.
Fingers crossed I don’t need chemo, I find out in a couple weeks. x
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I think it’s relatively common for DCIS to be found too once pathology results are in. I was provisionally told Grade 1-2 IDC at results appointment. Final results showed a Grade 2 tumour, two tiny Grade 1s and Intermediate DCIS. I haven’t had chemo. x
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Oh I see. Yes, I was told I had an IDC at biopsy and following surgery I also had low grade DCIS, luckily in the same place so came out in the same tissue extraction so the lump size was increased by 50% although it was still classified as small. It’s very common.
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Its often the case that a tumour has DCIS or LCIS near it, exactly when the tumour has evolved from original DCIS.
High grade DCIS is more likely to evolve into IDC. The 2 are not measured on the same scale as others have said, so there is no up or down grading.
When they remove the area as a whole, its the size of the IDC part that counts and indicates the treatment path to an extent. So I had IDC 16mm, but it had DCIS to 26 mm, this doesn’t change my stage to a 2 as only the IDC is counted, so I was a 1c being between 1.5 -2 cm.
Your IDC was over 2cm, so a stage 2, and it doesn’t matter how much DCIS there was apart from that as it doesn’t affect the Stage or grade of the IDC.
On the plus side, tumours mixed with DCIS tend to be slower growing than ones that have spontaneously grown without it, so its not entirely bad news to have it found.
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Thank you for explaining. I will ask them at my next appointment about the size, etc. Not that it probably makes a difference, but I’m all for knowing the details! x
Lol, I like the detail. DCIS amount matters in how much tissue is removed so big or multiple areas can result in needing mastectomy. Apart from that, it isnt seen as invasive or metastatic so has no bearing on chemo, but as it has potential to change is removed and the area zapped with radiotherapy in case cell are left that could change.