Triple negative treatment plan and surgery first??

Hi. Yes I had a lumpectomy in March 2021 after being diagnosis with a 14mm tumour in my right breast, I also had 4 lymph nodes removed. After these were checked and no cancer found in the nodes I was offered chemo and radiotherapy to help prevent reoccurance - I had 8 sessions of. Chemo and 10 sessions of radiotherapy. I was told that if the tumour was small then surgery was considered the best option to do first. Hope this reassure you lx

Thank you so much! You have given me reassurance that everything will be ok. I hope you are ok now a year later x 

Hi .. I had the surgery first following my triple negative diagnosis in March 2021 .. lumpectomy plus DCIS removal (77mm all together) surgery in June  plus two lymph nodes checked.. nodes came back clear but unfortunately not enough clear margins from around tumour area so I had to have a second surgery ..  once surgeon signed me over to the oncologist I was offered 8  rounds of chemotherapy which started in September.. then 10 rounds of radiotherapy with last round February 2022 .. sending best wishes for your treatment 

Hi Angie, I am recently diagnosed with TNBC and in a similar situation. I was told my lump was 16mm when I had the ultrasound at biopsy, then 14mm at ultrasound on the day of surgery. I had a wide local excision plus sentinel lymph node biopsy 10 days ago. I know I need radiotherapy but in my case chemo depends on the pathology report. Parity it’s going to be about whether or not lymph nodes and margins are clear. But also the pathology report should give them a lot more info than the original biopsy. TNBC is a grouping of all breast cancers that don’t have receptors for oestrogen, progesterone or human growth hormone. There are 5 or 6 sub-types under the heading TNBC, so they will want to know more before recommending what comes next. I am expecting to be offered chemo but it’s not an absolute certainty it will be beneficial and I am somewhat conflicted about it - see my blog if you are interested

People with larger tumours and/or suspected lymph node involvement start with neo adjuvant chemo partly to shrink the tumour and partly to understand whether or not it responds to the treatment. 

All the best. 

Can I ask what triple negative means ? 
I was diagnosed and had surgery first 4 weeks ago. I’ve to have radiotherapy and hormone treatment as advised by the breast surgeon. Mines was caught early. I had 4 lumps removed and 2 lymph nodes. Nodes have came back clear and lumps are her2 negative. 

I haven’t met the oncologist yet as I am waiting on the oncotype test coming back to see if chemo would benefit me. 

Triple negative means it doesn’t have receptors for oestrogen p, progesterone or human growth hormone, so there aren’t drugs you can take to block the things driving its growth. They are also usually aggressive gradec3 cancers with a high recurrence risk 

Oh dear sorry to hear that. I hope chemo and radiotherapy are a success for you all. It’s all such a mindfeild

Thank you so much for replying this. It helps to know others are in a similar position. What you are saying makes total sense. I have my surgery tomorrow so we will see once I get the results. I am pleased that your margins were clear and 0 node involvement.
Wishing you all the best!

Thank you for replying. Glad to hear that you had nothing in your nodes and that you came through the other side of it! I hope treatment was ok for you. 

All the best! 

All the best for your surgery. I didn’t find it too bad - much easier to recover from than the hip replacement I had last year!