First time to this forum.
Im 36 mum of 1 awesome little boy.
Diagnosed with -
Stage 2a Grade 2
IDC Er+ PR+ Her -.
3 tumors 25mm 20mm and 6mm as well as 50mm DCIS. MRI and CT scans clear.
I had a simple mastectomy with no reconstruction and all 5 sentinel lymphnodes came back negative for cancer.
During my post ops results meeting it was all incredibly positive with my surgeon happy to say the cancer was removed surgically and surprised the MDT oncologist suggested Chemo and suggested I could look into Oncotype testing if I wanted to make sure there was justification to chemo first. Chemo was very much so a ball in my court. I decided to go ahead with it and have since received 2 letters. 1 is my oncology appointment and the other was a summary from surgery and the histo-pathology.
Here is where I found “vascular invasion”! No-one mentioned this to me during the meeting. I called my BCN who stressed that my mastectomy surgery took all of the cancer, margins clear and what this mean was some cancer cells were spotted in blood vessels by the tumor but these would have also been removed by surgery and with chemo and tamoxifen being my insurances to kill off any potential strays Im not to worry.
I did/do worry though, finding that on the letter just triggered something in me and now I feel so so bloody scared again like I did when I was told I had cancer but had no details. Am I over reacting and being silly? Did anyone else have similar and are still cancer free years later?
Im scared I have cells in my blood stream now running amok!!
Hi
I understand your concern. I had surgery, was told I didn’t need chemo as oncotype score was 18 and then had radiotherapy. Also on endocrine tablets etc.
When my radiotherapy was finished, my BCN posted treatment summary to me and I too was shocked as it said I had lymphovascular invasion in both my tumours and nobody had ever mentioned this! After panicking phoned the team here and was reassured shouldn’t worry.
If you google liz o’riordan vascular invasion, she has done a great little video on this.
Hi
Your diagnosis looks very positive so far and they have removed all they can plus it’s not in the nodes so this is great.
I understand your concerns though. I had similar (bilateral mx and node free but found 5mm of IDC after checking twice after surgery). I did the oncotype test but there was too little to measure and as a result no chemo. I was on tamoxifen thereafter.
Mine came back after two years in one of the nodes same side. This is not to scare you as it had a very low 2% chance of returning so I was very very unlucky and the medical team were very surprised. I am out the other side of treatment now and all good.
What I would advise is to do the oncotype so you will know the gradient and type which will help you make an informed decision. This will give you more confidence as you move forward.
Secondly when you get checked annually be sure and get an ultrasound as they can’t mammogram a breast that has had a mastectomy (they do the other side instead) and it was on the same side where they found an enlarged node which was tucked in so not evident on a normal breast check.
Trust your instinct and push for the reassurance you need. It will serve you well and wishing you the very best in your recovery.
I read about LVI/VI online (which I know you really really shouldn’t do especially as their all peer medical papers which I can only just about understand!) and I really frightened myself as well as just didnt expect to see that as it hadnt been mentioned in the meeting at all. I know I just have to trust my medical team and my Surgeon was so positive and my BCN yesterday said not to worry.
Its just so hard not too, my diagnosis blindsided me and now anything that feels unexpected just instantly gets my back up and triggers similar feelings to being diagnosed all over again.
I watched the lovely Doctors youtube video this morning and bless her heart it really did help me calm down over it.
Thank you so much for mentioning the US for the mastectomy side and I will definitely will do that as they have mentioned yearly mamos till Im 50 but not US on my left!! Im so sorry it came back but so glad your doing well again and the other-side of treatment.
I was also told lvi after mastectomy with no lymph nodes involved and was given the choice of chemo to “mop up the strays” wrestled with the choice for a couple of weeks but decided to go ahead and am now 3/6 chemo sessions down. Was a difficult decision to make but personally decided to throw everything and the kitchen sink at it which took away some of the fear of the lvi
This is exactly my thought process tbh kitchen sink, tanks, alligators, anything I can throw at it I will! Id agreed chemo before knowing the vascular invasion bit.
My surgeon was/is very confident and advised I could go for the oncotype if I wanted as he was surprised the oncologist went straight to chemo as apparently Im in a medical grey area but I didn’t want to risk delaying anything, its not a case of me not trusting my BCN or surgeon but its the reassurance that Im doing everything I can.
Its wild how fast everything moves, one second Im doing my fake tan and spot a tiny dent, the next I have one boob and looking at chemo, wigs and chemo friendly foods.
Hi I have just turned 43 in August & I was diagnosed with grade 2 invasive ductal er/pr receptive & her2 negative breast cancer on June the 18th of this year. I had a lumpectomy & bi-lateral breast reduction on the 14th August. I went to my post op appointment 4 weeks after & the oncologist & team were really positive saying they had removed the 25mm tumour with good clear margins & no lymph node involvement so they said I would probably just need radiotherapy then tamoxifen but they had sent my sample off for oncotpe testing. I then recieved the letter through the post & noticed that my histology report said LVI present. I felt sick as it wasn’t mentioned to me at my post op appointment. I literally felt like I had been diagnosed again. My oncotype score has come back as 25 so I now also need chemo. I don’t know how many rounds yet as my next onco appointment is a week tomorrow. I just feel like everything was so positive then boom everything changes again!!! I don’t understand why they don’t mention the LVI??? X
I was diagnosed tnbc June 2017 no node involvement but LVI when I mentioned seeing the LVi when I first saw my oncologist he said don’t worry about that so I didn’t. Had 3 fec, 2 docetaxol and 1 fec. But when you see it in black and white in your letter then you Google it and go into orbit which was what I’d done before my oncologist said don’t worry about that just manage things in your own way and do reach out to your teams and the nurses on here if you can’t stop thinking about it your doing your best and that’s all any of us have, can and are doing be kind to yourself Shi xx
This was exactly my experience lovely, although mine just said Vascular invasion from what I can gather its really difficult for them to be told apart. My breast cancer nurse seemed really indifferent about it saying its not a big deal especially as Im having chemo then tamoxifen. It knocked me for 6 too though, one half of the information I can find makes it sound so scary and the other half dont seem to see it as a big deal at all xx
I understand your concern. I had a small early stage TNBC, no lymph node involvement, vascular invasion. I had adjuvant chemo because it was grade 3 and TNBC, no mention made of the VI risk. Part way through chemo I was hospitalised with diverticulitis and had a CT scan. Unexpected finding of a secondary deposit in liver. No lymph nodes enlarged anywhere. When I asked how this could have happened, the answer was spread through the blood, probably de novo. I don’t think it’s common but it can unfortunately happen.
I was diagnosed with stage 3, grade 3 triple positive IDC. I have over 4 lymph involvement… & 2 in my collarbone. According to the report, I do not have any lymphovascular invasion. How did the cancer get to the lymph without lymphovascular invasion? According to my oncologist, lymphovascular invasion doesn’t necessarily mean it will spread and can be treated with chemo. Some aspect of the test are predictive but not absolute. Please try to not get caught up in that rabbit hole.
Thank you lovely :-). At the time it really knocked me as I was clinging on to the positivity my surgeon had so reading that in my pathology report freaked me out. Its such a emotional rollercoaster isnt it!!
Ive since met with my oncologist and will be soon starting 16 weeks of dose dense chemo EX x 4 and Taxol x 4. He mentioned the LVI but he didn’t seem to fussed about it either although he did recommend chemo, Ovarian suppression, 10 years of Tam and some injections for my bones? (I cant remember what its called) and even possibly RT after which is very different to how my surgeon felt as I was in a medical grey area. My Onco felt that although mine was luminal A Im young and it was multifocal so showed signs it could have been aggressive so best to treat aggressively. Xxxx
I was diagnosed tnbc June 2017 no node involvement but LVI when I mentioned seeing the LVi when I first saw my oncologist he said don’t worry about that so I didn’t. Had 3 fec, 2 docetaxol and 1 fec. But when you see it in black and white in your letter then you Google it and go into orbit which was what I’d done before my oncologist said don’t worry about that 
