Rib pain with Stage 2 breast cancer. How accurate is the clinical diagnosis of breast cancer

My mom was just recently diagnosed with breast cancer. They found a mass two to three centimeters. She was clinically diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer with the low proliferative rate. We were told it is low grade h. ER and PR positive HER2 negative. She scheduled to have her lumpectomy on the 30th. The past couple of days she has complained about some rib pain it could be due to something else but it has me concerned.

They can’t really stage you accurately with a biopsy. I was staged 1A at biopsy but ended up stage 2A after my surgery (with the new prognosis staging system I was classed as 1B). They were wrong on the size of my lump and that’s what threw it off. Other people may have thought lymph nodes were clear and they weren’t. Anyway the stage is an estimate at biopsy and it’s very common for it to change after the pathology report comes in. In saying that though it is uncommon to have breast cancer to have spread beyond the breast at diagnosis especially with a low grade lump. Chances are high that her rib pain is unrelated or maybe has to do with her biopsy and healing from it. However, it is worth a mention to her oncologist. Maybe they can do a scan to alleviate your worries.

Hi Firstlady07 

Thank you for posting 

It sounds like a worrying time for you and its natural for you to wonder what might be causing your mum to have rib pain. 

A diagnosis of breast cancer is usually made following tests at a breast clinic.  A breast biopsy is done to confirm a diagnosis, but the results following breast surgery gives  

 more detailed information.  It is the information following surgery that enables more accurate staging as indicated by @Kay0987  

It’s difficult to say what may be causing your mum rib pain but as you say it may be due to something other than her breast cancer.  We would suggest that your mum tells her treatment team about this new pain so they can check it out and put your mind at ease.  We are currently evaluating this service and would appreciate your feedback. Please click here to the survey. It should take approximately 10 minutes to complete.  

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Breast Care Nurse 

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