Hi recently diagnosed surgery next week. Surgeon seemed confident it wasn’t in lymph’s and was grade 2 so would only need hormones and radiation. I’ve been reading all this can change after surgery. Can anyone tell me how often disgnosis grade changes . I’m terrified of prospect of chemo . Hesrt is broken since disgnosis
First of all I’m so sorry for your diagnosis. Nobody, despite us having great members, wants to be in this club. It stinks. But I do want to iterate that grade by itself doesn’t indicate whether chemo is needed. For node negative patients, it’s the oncotype score normally. Being a grade 2 is normally a good sign that you’ll have a lower score but it’s not a guarantee just as being a grade 3 might be a sign chemo is needed but that’s not a guarantee either. There are plenty of grade 2’s on this site that needed chemo and plenty of grade 3’s that didn’t. What is more indicative of that and what the oncotype score measures is the strength and amount of your hormone receptors, the mutations in your tumors, and quite a few other things. So if your grade changes - and it sometimes does but it can also change to lower, too - don’t panic. That doesn’t mean you will need chemo.
The other thing I will say is that chemo no longer deserves the reputation it has. Yes it’s difficult although now with the new medications to manage side effects it’s manageable for most people. I went through chemo and my life didn’t change. I was way more fatigued and had muscle pain but that hit only in my third cycle of four. The first two I felt pretty good in fact. After my last cycle, it took four weeks to start feeling the fatigue lift and by seven weeks I was pretty much back to pre-diagnosis days despite having a double mastectomy. So yes, chemo sucks. But it doesn’t have to change your life very much and you do recover. Right now you’re spinning from your diagnosis and imagining all the worst case scenarios and that is entirely normal and to be expected. But it does get better and you will rebound regardless of the treatment you need. Be gentle with yourself during this time of discovery. Eventually the news stops hitting like a fire hose and you learn to cope. Many hugs sent your way…
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- Oh Heartbreak I do feel for you as many of us felt how you feel now the waiting and worrying is the worst. Please know that things often don’t change and we often fear the worst and it doesn’t happen. Whilst my grade did chsnge from 2 to 3 after surgery the breast surgeon and oncologist simply changed my treatment to ’ throw the kitchen sink at it’ and I cope better than I expected. However things can so change for the better for example I had one positive lymph node found in surgery and so had to go back for a full axillary node clearance dreading what they would find and yet 30 out of 30 nodes were clear. Your team will give you the very best treatment suitable to you and there are so many lovely people on this site who offer wonderful support - I have found they have helped me so much in coping with my diagnosis and treatment. Best wishes Bookie x
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Hi,
It is so difficult not to worry as you are doing now, but we have all been there and coped somehow and it does become easier as treatment progresses. I found concentrating on the fact that surgery was going to get rid of the cancer and that the pathology results would tell me what had been there but was now gone helped to get me through surgery and the wait for results.
My biopsy results showed high grade DCIS and a tiny amount of grade 3 IDC, ultrasound showed no lymph node involvement. My post surgery results were actually better, there was no IDC remaining, the biopsy had removed it all. Only intermediate and high grade DCIS was found and my lymph nodes were clear. Even though my cancer was triple negative and grade 3 I do not have to have chemo, just radiotherapy with an integrated boost to the tumour bed which I start on 19th December. So any worrying I did about the results before I got them was unnecessary and the relief of knowing the cancer was gone was wonderful.
Everyone is different but whether your cancer is grade 2 or 3 probably won’t make much difference to your treatment especially if your lymph nodes are clear.
Sending big hugs and good wishes for your surgery, recovery and good results xx
Does grade 2 ever change to stage 4