Hi, I was diagnosed through a private clinic as I decided to go that route as my local NHS were not able to adhere to the 2 week wait. I have invasive ductal carcinoma with DCIS. I was told at the private clinic that the lump was 17mm with no lymph node involvement but as my breast tissue is so dense, the mammogram wasn’t able to see the lump so I would need an MRI. I have transferred to the NHS for treatment and had the MRI completed last week and received the results this week. The MRI has highlighted that the lump is actually 49mm and also there is an enlarged lymph node so biopsies were taken. I am having a PET scan next week now due to this.
I am concerned about the size of the lump now and wondered what effect this is going to have on success of treatment. How does this size compare to other forum users lumps please. I am trying not to let my mind go a little haywire and tell me that it is terribly large so could do with some facts on lump sizes. When I have gone to Dr Google it has only given me size in relation to stage.
Also, as I am being sent for a PET scan prior to biopsy results on the enlarged lymph node I’m presuming they are thinking the node has cancer within it. Am I being dramatic do you think and over-thinking?
Thanks for reading and any support you can give.
Hi @diesel
I was advised I had 2 lumps, biggest 35mm and no obvious lymph involvement then after surgery, that there were 3 lumps biggest 55mm, 2 positive lymph. It is a shock when information changes and I can understand a bit of how you feel.
I had mastectomy then axillary clearance (declined implants etc) to remove everything then offered optima trial. If low score may be assigned to no chemo or chemo, if high score then assigned chemo. I decided to have chemo anyway as I would have always panicked if not had full treatment. I also had 15 radiotherapy sessions. I am now 11 months from diagnosis and on anastrazole hormone blocker and abemaciclib/bisphosphonates as tumour over 50mm so slightly higher recurrence risk and meds should help reduce this.
I think the PET scan is to build up a full picture so your individualised plan can be put together. If it were me, I would also have panicked if doctors hadn’t scheduled PET scan and wondered if they were missing anything. So if nothing on PET, that’s great, they can organise the right plan. If there is something, they can also organise right plan to get you better.
this bit is hardest, what if, what will they find, what does that mean… once the scan results are all in, you will be given options, recommendations and your plan. I used to think that breast cancer was breast cancer, then I was diagnosed and found out all the variations - one size does not fit all - Chemo first, chemo after, no chemo as gene test suggests no benefit… hold on in there, try not to panic (says me, the queen of panic), try not to google…
I remember speaking to someone when I found out my biggest tumour was 55mm and thinking that was huge and obviously meant I wouldn’t make it… and she had been diagnosed with 70mm tumour, 25 years ago when chemo/meds not as good and was doing just great. Hope next well goes well
big hugs
Laura
49mm is a t2 tumor. It’s considered intermediate. Anything 50 mm or larger would be considered a large tumor. Most breast cancers are found when they are T1 (20 mm or less) but those on the younger side tend to have large tumors. Mine was 32mm. They thought it was 18mm with surrounding DCIS but nope. It was all IDC and almost twice as big. And that’s not all that uncommon. I will like to remind you though that an MRI shows inflammation so sure you may have 49mm tumor. Or it could be 30 with surrounding inflammation. They won’t know for sure until after surgery. As far as the enlarged lymph node, yes there is suspicion that it’s because of cancer. That doesn’t mean it is but they’ll always assume until proven otherwise. Your pet scan will give more definitive information.
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Thank you both. I have spoken to my breast care nurse today who has offered some reassurance as well. This stage is horrible isn’t it. You feel so out of control and just want to know what’s happening inside your body. I just need to be patient and bide my time until all the assessments are completed knowing they are doing this to give me the best treatment