Hey everyone, I’m 40 and I’ve recently been diagnosed with Occult Breast Cancer following what I thought was a pulled muscle in my armpit. Fast forward 2 months and after all the tests cancer cells found from biopsy of armpit lymph node but no primary has been found (MRI/CT scan) I’ve been told I will need 12 weekly sessions of chemo which feels very scary. I’m looking for anyone else newly diagnosed and anyone with Occult breast cancer as it feels very strange!
Yes I had this. Nothing showed in my breast on either mammogram, CAT scans, MRI scan or PET scan. The lump under my arm was diagnosed as triple negative breast cancer. It’s a long story but in the end after chemo immunotherapy I had a mastectomy and lymph node clearance. Afterwards the pathology showed that the cancer in my lymph nodes had responded to treatment but was also a tumour bed in my breast that had been fully responsive to treatment and some intermediate dcis. Your treatment may be different depending on the type of breast cancer in the lymph nodes. Also they thought I had secondary breast cancer in my lungs so I had chemo immuno first. But the nodules in my lungs turned out to be benign. It is a very weird feeling to have a cancer in the breast that doesn’t show up at all but it can be successfully treated!
Thank you for that information it’s really useful, I hope you don’t mind me asking but how long did your treatment go on for? (Obviously I know will be some differences) Are you now cancer free?
Hello! I was also diagnosed with occult breast cancer found in armpit node only. I’m 34 years old. I’m 8 weeks into my chemo so happy to answer any questions you have!! It’s hard to find much information about this type of breast cancer so happy to chat privately too if you wanted my plan is 12 weeks of taxol/carboplatin then 4 cycles of EC and I’m on immunotherapy along side as mines triple negative. Then I’m having surgery to the lymph nodes but they have said they aren’t going to do any surgery to my breast or radiotherapy but I’m going to question about the radiotherapy as a lot of research says to use this for occult.
Hi. My treatment was back to front and upside down! So I had six months of chemo immunotherapy. Then I had a few months off whilst and I tried to decide what to do next! Then I finally decided to have a mastectomy and lymph node clearance. That was just over a year ago. I am currently cancer-free.
That’s amazing! I have just found out I’m HER2 positive so that has changed my treatment plan but it’s so encouraging that you are now cancer free!