Mucinous Carcinoma of the breast
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Hi Tricianne, I know, it's not always easy with the time difference and I am just about to go to bed after a busy weekend celebrating my son's 10th birthday. I too was vit D deficient and now take suplements. I had a melonoma 10 years ago so I totally understand the whole "keep out of the sun" message and have always been vigilant with sun screen. I have olive skin (Italian heritage) so I do still tan with 30+ sunscreen but I was still deficient in Feb after spending days at the beach and by the pool with the kids during the school holidays so I guess the sun screen really does block out the benefits of the sun. After seeing my specialist in Jan for my melonoma he gave me the all clear and said that he didn't really need to see me anymore and that I could see the local skin care clinic from now on...then...what do you know...a new scary thing to monitor, worry about and question, pops up and here I go again with tests, appointments,changes to how I think and live and not to mention the whole "will I get to see my kids grow up and get married and will I get to see my grandchildren one day...I guess in the end we need to remember to live and enjoy life and not worry that everything that we do "could" mean that we are at risk again but I can't help but have that fear in the back of my mind with every bite of birthday cake that I may have or glass of wine I drink or if I haven't had enough green tea today...
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unsure...most evenings, I ENJOY a glass of wine with my dinner. Come join me...in enjoying a glass! I almost croaked TWICE from other life threatening illnesses. Something is going to get us...and lets just hope that it's...eventually! Until then....ENJOY what floats your boat! For me, it's that evening glass of wine!
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Hello everyone. I have also been reading everyone`s posts for a couple of weeks now. I am so grateful you exist!! I want you to know that you are changing people`s lives with your posts!!! We are in Romania so you are changing lives all around the world... My mother is 56 and was diagnosed with Invasive Ductual Carcinoma ( mucinous carcinoma ) clinically 3 weeks ago and we got the biopsy result 2 days ago. There isn`t much info on this type of cancer on the net in romanian...it`s like it doesn`t exist...grateful for google and especially you! We have met met with her breast surgeon and Onc and will be going back tomorrow to talk about treatment...most probably chimo-operation-chimo/radiation and hormone therapy...we are still waiting for the results about hormone receptors. we also don`t know if it is pure or not yet...
Her tumor is 4/5 cm and appears to have node involvement...can the doc tell for sure or is that definite only after operation. Trying to find the courage to keep going and to be strong...very hard...thanks for listening...
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Hi Buburuzaa, well now I am praying for you in Romania, we sure get around the world on this website. You will find the courage and you don't have to be strong all of the time, sometimes its just good to let the fears & anxieties out and this is a good place to air them. I understand that the only definite diagnosis is with the pathology test after the cancerous tumour is cut out, the biopsy just gives them some indication of what is likely to be found during the operation.
For unsure123 if its any help when I studied Human health and disease our top medical expert lecturer warned us all not to go around diagnosing ourselves with the possibility of a fatal illness, he then told us we were all living with a terminal condition, life itself. So like Voracious Reader I survived other life threatening illnesses. I had two ocurrences of severe Vivax malaria in my 30's then at 59 I survived Bowel cancer and now at 69 I have survived early breast cancer (MC). So all in all we don't have the control over ill health that we would like but here we are doing very well in spite of the problems. Blessings on you all tricianne
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Welcome Buburuzza, sorry to hear about what you and your family are going through...it is very difficult dealing with all the new information in the begining and accepting that this is happening to someone that you love so much. I hope you have a wonderful team of doctors taking care of your mum and that you feel confident with them because that will help you get through this much easier and I hope that you can also get help from the many people on this site that have a lot of experience with this and that can answer some of the questions that you have. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
Hi Tricianne, sorry to hear about all the things that you have been through and I'm glad that you have been able to get through them and still have such a positive attitude, I wish you all the best with this new challenge. I know a positive attitude helps and most of the time I don't worry too much about this but until I make up my mind with what I need to do concerning tamoxifen I really don't think that I will feel at ease. After reading so many posts on this site with recurrence and mets I just hope that I make the right decision but only time will tell if I have.
(((HUGS))) to everyone ...
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Tricianne and unsure 123, thanks for your kind words. I am so happy to read that you are doing well, that gives many people so much hope. My mom is not ready to join the discussion boards but I do talk to her about you gals and tell her about all the things i have learned. I guess we won`t know her stage exactly until after the operation...which will be in 3 months, she will be having 4 sessions of chimo, 3 days in a row every 3 weeks to shrink it and then operation. Her tumor is 4/5 cm, is there any chance there is no node involvement even withy this size tumor? She does have 2 nodes under her arm that she can feel now though...is ther any chance that although they are there they are not with cancer? We had a body scan and all organs are ok which is good news. The Oncotype test is not available here so I guess we just have to go with the chimo, none of the doctors have even mentioned that not having it is even a possibility with this size tumor. The clinical diagnosis was T4b N2 Mx-so I guess like Tricienne said that N2 is not sure until the operation. Is there a chance for a stage 2 or not with this size tumor? Sorry about all the questions...I did feel I knew a lot from reading but I guess i ama more confused than I thought...I am so grateful you exist...
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Buburuzza... Not completely sure by what your mom's pathology report is stating. However if the tumor is less than 5 cm and there is little lymph node involvement, then she still might be Stage 2. More importantly is the signature of the tumor. Is it ER +? Is it HER -? What is the Grade of the tumor? Is it slow growing, a Grade 1 or Grade 2 or 3? Chemo is recommended for tumors over 3cm according to the NCCN 2011 breast cancer treatment guidelines.
Once again, on this thread, we find a wonderful, caring daughter. My thoughts and prayers are with both of you.0 -
hi lades
sorry for my disappearance i start a new job so i couldn't write you....my mom is o/k but now we have something alse.before she stated to take a pill(tamoksifen) she needed to go to genikolog...he sent her to do a ultrasound for a womb...she did it...and we get a resolt that her mucous of a womb is too thick...7.2...and they need to understand why...so they sent her to do a biobsiya for a mucous...and tan to decide if she can start a tamoxipen...
i'm so woory again...canot stand it any more...andshe is about a month after a sergery and no tritment didn't start...s it bed for her? i going craizzy again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thanks
marina-miki
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Marina-miki....Sounds like your mom is receiving terrific care! Most physicians will insist on a baseline transvaginal ultrasound BEFORE prescribing Tamoxifen. Since your mom already has a thickness, it is standard procedure to investigate further. My sister, who is a few years older than me and doesn't have breast cancer, has thickness and has already had two D&C's to prevent cancer. It's always something! I've also had fibroids and polyps which required surgery as well.
Marina-miki --- Hang in there. Just want you to know that once receiving a diagnosis of cancer, the doctors become very thorough with care. That means, tests and more tests and many doctor appointments. The first year, which includes active treatment is very physically and emotionally exhausting. Many tests are preformed and many decisions need to be made. And once decisions are made, more often than not, depending upon side effects, even more decisions have to be made. Hopefully, all that your mom will need is monitoring and all will be well. And even if she does require an additional procedure, she still should do well.
Thoughts and prayers....
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thanks Voraciousreader
you are always here!!!!!! i'm so glad that i have you sisters here!
i hope that every thing will be okay!!!!! i have a bad flash backs from my sister and i can''t thing pozitive
is it bad that 1 month after the sergery she doesn't start any tritment?
thank
marina
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Marina... I can only imagine what it is like to walk in your shoes. You are quite justified to have the feelings that you do. I hope that one day soon your anxiety will lift. Perhaps it will happen slowly...until that day comes, I hope you will find peace in knowing that you and your loved ones are in our thoughts and prayers.
Regarding starting Tamoxifen a month after surgery? That is fine. I first had six weeks of radiation following surgery and started the Tamoxifen a week or two afterwards... Perhaps 2 months after surgery.0 -
Dear Marina, Sorry to hear that you are getting worried again about your mum but you have all the questions that we all naturally had like "is this the right time to start Tamoxifen or Radiotherapy??" "Am I waiting too long for......?" I hadn't found this website when I was first diagnosed so I was doing all the checking I could looking up all the info on whatever it was that was worrying me and asking all the questions and then rechecking again. Its our natural way of trying to get back in control of our life. We are very blessed on this website that VoraciousReader gives us some very competent answers that help to reduce our anxiety with accurate information.
Personally I found that getting over the surgery was an important step and I was glad that I had healed very well before radiotherapy started and as Tamoxifen side effects can make you a bit anxious to start with, the more settled you are in recovery the more quickly your mum will adjust to the medication. More prayers for you and your mum.
Dear Bubaruzaa, we are so glad you can get information that helps you and your mother and hopefully your anxiety will lessen as treatment progresses. Its great to see the love you have for your mothers and what you will do to help them.
Blessings on all you sisters.
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thank you girls....i hope that some day i wll get my life back...i'm thinking to start again my meetings with psihologist becouse i can't live like that..
hope for good news for every body
will update as i know something
love you all
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Voraciousreader, my thoughts and prayers are with you as well, I am so happy to read that you are well and have gotten past most of the hard stuff...chimo, operation, I guess the rest of the journey is regular check-ups, am I right? Anyway, I can`t say how thankful I am to have found you...it was when I was in the middle of a nervous break down...in shock of all I was reading online...statistics...and this is where I found hope, positive attitudes, support and a group of very caring , loving ladies ready to be there and support eachother and others from all around the world...God bless all of you!
Regarding my mom`s diagnostic, all we have so far is the clinical diagnostic T4b N2 Mx, which from what I read, T represents the size of the tumor which is 4 in her case, which means a biggers size, N is number of nodes, M is metastatic disease which was unknown before the body scan. we only got the biopsy result which states IDC (mucinous carcinoma) but it actually says glandulifom and mucinous, but I still have no idea is that means if it is mixed or what it means. we are still waiting for the other test results that will state what you mentioned above about hormone receptors and grades. the docs say that chimo is the sollution for her size tumor anyway and that hopefully will shrink it down before her operation in November... I am hoping that there is no node involvement..although she has 2 small lumps under her arm...is that usually the sign that there is node involvement or not, or can they only tell when they remove them?
Take care and thank you so much for you time and support! God bless you and I will be praying for everyone`s health.
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Marina-Miki....Dear sweet dear, Marina...You say you want your life back? THIS is life. Everything that is tearful and wonderful is part of life. There is no getting anything back...Life is a process that we have to navigate...If you think you need help, by all means get it...hopefully it will ease your anxiety as you navigate....
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PLJ...When you visit your MO, point him/her to the NCCN 2.2011 breast cancer treatment guidelines, page 19, Footnote S.
"Evidence supports the magnitude of benefit from surgical or radiation ovarian ablation in pre-menopausal women with hormone receptor positive is similiar to that achieved with CMF alone. Early evidence suggests similar benefits from ovarian suppression (ie. LHRH agonist or antagonist) as from ovarian ablation. The combination of ovarian ablation/suppression plus endocrine therapy may be superior to suppression alone. The benefit of ovarian ablation/suppression in premenopausal women who have received adjuvant chemotherapy is uncertain."
Hope this helps. BTW...I'm doing ovarian suppression with Lupron and Zometa at 6 months, twice a year for three years....AND Tamoxifen for 5 years. Waiting on other trials to see if I will do an AI afterwards. Also check the SOFT trial.....
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Miki and Buburuzzaa, welcome and I hope you find the help and support here that you need.
Buburuzzaa, yes with 4cm tumour there is a good chance the nodes may be clear and free from cancer, it's unusual with other type of cancer eg IDC, but for mucinous breast cancer the size includes mucin protein which the cancer cells have made, and that protein is still within the tumour so there are not so many bad cells as there would be in a 4cm tumour of other type. I hope when your mother has the operation, you will find there is no cancer in the lymph nodes. That is the best indicator of a good survival. Most mucinous cancer is positive for oestrogen receptors (ER+) and can be treated with anti-oestrogen hormones such as Tamoxifen or Arimidex which will reduce the chance that the cancer might come back. I hope that she tolerates the chemo treatment and it is successful to make the lump smaller. Because it is going all round the body it will also immediately be effective if there is any tumour in the lymph nodes or anywhere else in her body as well as making the breast lump smaller. Please come back and ask more questions. Praying for you both.
PLJ I feel for you it is not fair they should put this pressure on you. If you do get to being steamrollered you could maybe stall by asking for a second opinion? From what you said about cysts etc and the ER+, personally I think your ovaries are not your best friend and you might well get rid of them which will reduce your oestrogen dramatically, would you then still need the other treatments? I don't really understand why it should be up to you to convince the MO about a planned course of action when your BS has recommended it?? Or can BS send you to a different MO who will get this done for you, if it's what you want? It's not like you are the expert clinician here. Can you let them fight each other direct?
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Buburuzzaa - As Hymil mentioned, it's quite possible that the lymph nodes are not affected. I'm just not sure when it comes to neo-adjuvant chemo if it's possible to definitively know. Usually they refer to it as "clinical" staging, based on imaging, as opposed to "pathological" staging that is done following surgery. Keep in mind that it's been reported in the medical literature that there have been women with mucinous tumors as large as 20 cm and they don't have lymph node involvement. Likewise, the likelihood of lymph node involvement usually occurs with larger tumors or mixed mucinous tumors. I wouldn't get too hung up on the staging right now. Remember the "signature" of the tumor and how she responds to treatment is ultimately more important. I hope you will continue to let us know how your mother is doing. We're all on this journey together and as more women report on their treatments, it gives future travellers a road map.
PLJ...I'm surprised that your MO didn't suggest O/S. Mine suggested it. I wish you well. Good luck! Keep us posted.
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Hymil and Voraciuosreader, Thanks so much for you messages:))) I am really starting to feel a little better...my mom has started chimo and seems fine so far...she is very strong...she won`t let a little baldness get her down...we have already bought a nice wig and are joking about the nice implants she will get later...I will be getting more biopsy results back in about 2 weeks. I will keep everyone posted. Thank you for your prayers. We will be praying for everone too and hoping everyone always remembers to see the positive side of everything. I am sure I will come back with more qustions soon. thanks for being so helpful and kind. you are one bunch of special ladies! God bless you!!!
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hi girls....
how are you all? i try to get to mam a biobsia but for my bad luke we have here a doctors strike almost 2 month and ererything goes wrealy slow...so i decided to go to pivet one....so on onday we go to see him and tjen he explane uswhen the biobsia will be done....i red you post and i have a quesotin what its a Zoladex it seems like something that my sister was taking but i don't remember.....
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Marina-Miki..Zoladex or Lupron are injections that stop premenopausal women from getting their monthly periods. The reason why women may choose to do this is because, IF they have a highly ER + tumor, by shutting down the ovaries that fuel estrogen, many doctors believe it improves the chances of not having a recurrence. Another way to achieve this is by surgically removing the ovaries. Both methods, by injection or surgery are called "Ovarian Suppression." If a woman is already menopausal, then there is no need to do either. Also want to let you and others know, that Ovarian Suppression is still being researched. The details can be found in the "SOFT trial."
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voraciousreder
thank you....yes this was the prosses that my sister did....she was geeting a injection ones in a month.....
i'll update about my mom latter as i wiil know something...cross your fingers for me lades!!!!!we need a good news!!!!!
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Have a lovely day!
PLJ
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just back from post-surgery consult. all nodes were clear, yay.
tumor was 2.8cm, margins were NOT clear. so another surgery for sure. apparently the size of the tumour suggests chemo might be a good idea, but the type of cancer means it may not be. next step is to see a chemo specialist where the surgeon suggested i have an oncotype test. yay for surgeons suggesting oncotype. boo for no clear path forward yet.
i'll re-read this thread (esp the self-compassion post, that was a good one!). But any suggestions for specific questions i should ask the chemo-guy? Are there types of chemo we MC ladies prefer? I reallllly don't want chemo.
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HI, an update on my mom. We have finished 1 out of 4 sessions of chimo befor the actual operation since the BC wanted to make the tumor smaller before. She will have 3 day sessions every 3 weeks. Regarding the medication, I was wondering if anyone else has used this type of chimo and what their reaction was, other than tiredness she hasbeen fine, did it actually make the tumor smaller, my mom says she actually feels something going on there...like little needles... She is having: Pharmorubicin- 150 mg. (epirubicin in the US); cyclophosphamide - 1200mg ; 5 Flouracil 1500mg. Thanks again.
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PLJ....
...I'm smiling for YOU, ME and YOUR DOCTOR! (Round of applause in the background!)Katie....Glad to hear that despite needing more surgery, you are node negative and it sounds like your doctors are on the ball! For the first time this year, the NCCN breast cancer treatment guidelines are including the Oncotype DX test for most Stage 1 and Stage 2 ER + tumors. Interestingly, they didn't recommend it for Tubular and Mucinous. Nonetheless, I am thrilled to see more doctors recommending the test for our type of tumors. Hopefully, with the information from the Oncotype DX test AND your final pathology report, you can decide whether or not you need chemo. Presently, the recommendation is for chemo for a tumor that is OVER 3 cm and you are on the cusp. Remember though, IF you find out that you have a Grade 1, slow growing tumor, chemo usually doesn't work as well as. It works better on Grade 2 and 3 tumors.
You don't mention your menopausal status. Like me and PLJ, if you are PREmenopausal, you might benefit from ovarian suppression. These are all subjects that you need to discuss with your doctor ONCE you get all of your test results. Good luck. Thoughts and prayers to you.
Buburuzaa...I'm sorry that I can't chime in about your mom's chemo. Perhaps you can visit one of the chemo threads and ask your questions. Before surgery, they will do more scans and note her clinical response. Good luck and thoughts and prayers to both of you as well.
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Hi Katiekaboom, so glad you found the self compassion research helpful, its just the initial summary. I have contacted the researcher Astrid & her team from Macquarie University, Sydney and they will give me the detailed research results when they are finalised.
Hi all the rest of you sisters keeping this blog very busy with heaps of interesting and thought provoking questions and keeping us up to date with your progress. Lots of continuing prayers for you all for courage and peace. Blessings Tricianne
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Tricianne...Thoughts and prayers to you as well today and always! I think the reason why this thread is becoming more active is because when women do an internet search of "mucinous breast cancer" we are popping up...and the more popping up, the higher we become on the internet....so I guess, even if we just pop on to offer one another encouragement, we're making our place known on the world wide web and more people are finding their way here.
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