Topic: How long was cancer active b/4

Hi Eval,

I think it depends very much on your doctor and how much analysis they do - I have never yet had a doctor who cared about the 'history' they have just attended to the disease - I actually think it is pretty important if the doctor DOES try and work out as much as they can about how the disease is presenting in the patient - everything I have read about BC seems to indicate the more the doc tries to tailor the treatment to the patient - the better the outcome - sorry I have not had any luck getting a doctor like than - sounds as though you may be lucky and have found a good one :)

Hi Eva,

There's no way to definitively pinpoint it.  One indicator, though, is the Ki-67 number.  Do you know what yours was?  It should be listed on your pathology report.  It's a percentage of tumor cells actively dividing at the time of the test, which indicates how fast it is growing.  Some are fast growing (high grade) and some are slow growing (low grade).  Do you know your tumor grade? 

It may also be listed as mitotic rate. Mine was 70% (KI67) on path report, and listed as high mitotic rate on biopsy report.  But I'm Her2 +++, and those are known to be aggressive and rapid growing.

I don't think my BC was there very long before I found the lump. I had a clear mammo 6 months earlier and when I found it mine was almost 4 cm. already.