When they open you up to do surgery, does the air make whatever cells are leftover, hiding, more of

Options
prayerangel
prayerangel Member Posts: 147
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Is that an old wives tale? Have you ever heard of that?
Thanks,
Prayerangel

Comments

  • LesleyH
    LesleyH Member Posts: 370
    Options
    I can't read the question, but I'm guessing you are asking if it spreads the cancer. And the answer is NO! It is a myth.
  • Susan956
    Susan956 Member Posts: 510
    Options
    The only thing is that sometimes when they go in to do surgery they find that it has spread to so many organs that surgery is just not a viable option.. so they don't do the surgery and then try to regroup with Chemo and/or radiation.

    Take care... God Bless...

    Susan
  • cabbott
    cabbott Member Posts: 1,039 Member
    Options
    I've read that breast cancer doubles between every 29 (very aggressive) and 160 (fairly slow growing) days. By the time a spot is big enough to be on a mammogram, it has been in your body for anywhere from 2 to 8 years. If it is the sort to set up camp elsewhere, it often has had time to do so before the operation was even considered. The operation didn't cause the spread. It was already there. And air definately does NOT make the cancer grow. However, there has been some research into the issue that primary cancers may somehow control the growth of secondary cancers using chemical messages. Other plants have shown a similar ability. Don't ever try to grow tomato plants near a walnut tree. I tried once. The tree actually sends out a chemical that naturally kills broad leaf plants. This protects the water supply for the walnut tree. Primary tumors may also send out messages when (or before maybe???) they are altered by conventional surgery. Radio wave ablation has been a recent experiment to try to kill the tumor without setting off these chemicals that may encourage secondary tumor growth patterns. I have read of some women that volunteered for experimental surgery that was followed by mastectomy to see how it worked. I haven't seen it offered yet in teaching hospitals instead of conventional surgery. I have NOT read anything in the literature that even remotely suggests leaving the primary tumor alone in hopes of controlling cancer. Women used to die of primary breast cancer and the descriptions are extremely horrific. I sat through a talk where they gave a play by play description of that(with pictures on a screen!) and it made me deeply appreciate the current state of treatment even though I was still angry the cure hadn't been found yet. The same speaker(a breast surgeon by trade) mentioned the above research and looked forward to the day when surgery might not be necessary. If we tested positive for breast cancer, we could get an infusion of nanoparticles or special dye that could be heated with a laser or radio waves once they were lodged in the tumor(s) and they would be zapped away. It's actually in the beginning research stage now. Who knows what the next few decades will bring? But for now, don't put off surgery for fear cancer will spread. Cancer has a tendency to progress from non-invasive to invasive genetically and letting it sit undisturbed for months means it has more time to develop into a more aggressive form. Each time the messed up cells divide, they can become more messed up, more likely to be the kind that could spread elsewhere and more deadly. Surgery doesn't cause that.
  • 24242
    24242 Member Posts: 1,398
    Options
    The only time that there maybe some seeding, so they call it is when the tumour is being taken out of the body so the seeding can occur at the surgery site I have heard. I agree with others that there really isn't anything one can do to cause a spread for the cancer has most often been there for along time. With mastectomies they are unable to move every cell so it is possible for other cancers to grow and I too have met others who are on their 3rd and 4th bouts of the same disease.
    You hand in there and know that we are all thinking of you and can only give you our words of encouragement and our prayers.
    Be good to yourself always,
    Tara