Breast cancer biopsy

......hello...

sorry no one spotted your post before now. I am hoping you have managed to get to sleep but as you have so many worries, you may still be around so I'll answer what I can now.

Firstly.....the best news is that a lump that wasn't there six months ago, has been found. This means it's early and in many cases, early discovery leads to very successful treatment.  Biopsy results may take a few days to be assessed but I think the radiologists do have a suspicion from experience. Also some benign lumps need removing too because of their position so the doctor may have been saying that an op was the likely scenario and not cancer.

But if it is cancer.....these days in many cases and especially where it is found early and nodes are clear, it is not the death sentence that was once feared. Treatments may not be pleasant but they do pass and analysis is so specific these days that treatments can be personalised to fit an individual's needs and responses.

My own diagnosis was in 2015 and my mammograms have shown no cancer since. Recently early detection of a small tumour for my sister resulted in a lumpectomy but no further treatment.

These are difficult times to be diagnosed but if treatment is required, I don't think the virus will delay it and once treatment has started, so has the road to recovery.

I hope some of these points will help your friend. Take care both of you, wait for instructions and stay safe 

Love Karen

Thank you Karen. 

I think it’s the fact she has a cough is what’s worrying me the most. We’ve all had a virus of some sort so probs my just a cold but my mid keeps making leaps that it’s in her lungs. How long does it normally take for them to rule out spread? 

I think if you have clear nodes you can be fairly confident that it hasn't spread but I'm not medical so perhaps someone more knowledgeable can answer here please?

Thank you Karen. If you know of anyone on here you might know that would be great. I know nothings for certain ok just trying not to google x

Can anyone answer N1985's question about spread?

My instinct is that clear nodes show no spread but am I oversimplifing?

Hi there,  everyone is different,  but there are few things which might affect it, and how they proceed.  These are strange times where it might be fine in a different way to usual (operation first instead of chemo or simple mastectomy not reconstruction until later are two changes I've heard)

If the cancer is not showing in her nodes then the only way it could spread is through lymphovascular invasion (it can go through the blood vessels but this is much less common) which would only be known after surgery. I suspect that they will do surgery first,  sampling the first few nodes to check them. These are called sentinel nodes.  If any show signs of cancer (about 20% of women who looked clear do have something) then staging scans are done.  Different authorities do this differently,  but in my case (nodes looked clear but one node was positive) I had 2 CT scans to check my body from neck to tops of legs, and a nuclear bone scan to check my bones.  These were clear,  so I had the rest of my nodes removed and they were all totally clear, despite the positive node being 6mm in size. 

There are risk factors they will look for in spread.  Thr grade of the cancer (grade 1 and 2 ar less aggressive than grade 3), the size of thr cancer (larger has had more time to establish and spread) and the type of the cancer (ER+ is less aggressive than HER2+ and Triple Negative).  Once these things are know the team will decide what to do next. Breast cancer is treatable,  and some consultants (like my surgeon) talk about curable a well,  and things are moving along so quickly in terms of research and treatment now too. Let us know how she gets on. Xx

Thank you xx