Hi
I was diagnosed with IDC 20th July 2022. Had surgery to remove lymph nodes a tumour plus received radiotherapy in September. On Letrozole 10 years and ibandronic acid for 3 years . Oncotype test under 20 so no chemotherapy required.
Oncology report states :
left breast tumour 39mm (55 mm) grade 2 . 1/50 lymph nodes with a 15 mm macrometastases and ECS spread
0.1 mm from DCIS
ER8 , PR4 , HER negative
PT2 N18 .
can you please explain what the ECS spread means,
kind regards
Julia
Dear Julia,
Thank you for getting in touch and welcome to our online community, I hope you find it supportive. My name is Jo and I am one of the Cancer Information Nurse Specialists on the Macmillan Support Line.
The information written in oncology reports, or pathology reports comes from tests carried out on the tissues removed from the body during surgery. These results help doctors decide what treatments might work the best. Quite often, these reports contain terms and abbreviations that only make sense to experts.
Its is likely that “ECS spread” has been used to describe the appearance of the lymph nodes. It stands for “extra-capsular spread” which suggests that cancer cells were found in the tissue surrounding the lymph nodes. This booklet produced by Breast Cancer Now might help you better understand your pathology report. Page 18 describes extra-capsular spread.
We would recommend getting in touch with your breast care team to discuss any terms or wording of your reports as they will be able to explain exactly what it means in terms of your care.
I hope this information is helpful but if you have any more questions please don’t hesitate to get back in touch.
Best wishes,
Jo, Cancer Information Nurse Specialist
You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or email us.
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