Early signs of Recurrence

New Flower

I know nobody wants to think about Recurrence. But it could happened.
While I understand is a very painful experience, could you ladies share tells us what we need to watch for?
Thank you very much

Fran1947

Hi New Flower,

I went off arimidex the end of 2007 - a little more than 5 years after treatment for stage 1 invasive lobular carcinoma. I had a lumpectomy, sentinal node biopsy, 6 months of chemo with CMF, and 6 weeks of rads.

Starting in February 2008 I had 3 episodes of infection in that breast, with escalating concern on the part of my oncologist and my surgeon. They did 3 skin biopsies to check for inflammatory breast cancer and they were all negative. They also did MRI's in June and September. The first one showed nothing. The second one showed something tiny and suspicious. I had a core needle biopsy which showed cancer so I had a mastectomy followed by 4 doses of Taxotere. I finished treatment in March of this year - and I am once again considered cancer-free. I'm here to tell you that recurrences can be cured. BTW - they never did figure out what was causing the infections. It may have been the tiny tumor blocking some of the lymph system in the breast creating a friendly place for infections.

This is not really a very typical recurrence, so I doubt if it is particularly helpful - but I'm happy to share my story.

Hugs,

Fran

New Flower

Fran1947 said:

Hi New Flower,

I went off arimidex the end of 2007 - a little more than 5 years after treatment for stage 1 invasive lobular carcinoma. I had a lumpectomy, sentinal node biopsy, 6 months of chemo with CMF, and 6 weeks of rads.

Starting in February 2008 I had 3 episodes of infection in that breast, with escalating concern on the part of my oncologist and my surgeon. They did 3 skin biopsies to check for inflammatory breast cancer and they were all negative. They also did MRI's in June and September. The first one showed nothing. The second one showed something tiny and suspicious. I had a core needle biopsy which showed cancer so I had a mastectomy followed by 4 doses of Taxotere. I finished treatment in March of this year - and I am once again considered cancer-free. I'm here to tell you that recurrences can be cured. BTW - they never did figure out what was causing the infections. It may have been the tiny tumor blocking some of the lymph system in the breast creating a friendly place for infections.

This is not really a very typical recurrence, so I doubt if it is particularly helpful - but I'm happy to share my story.

Hugs,

Fran

Thank you Fran
Fran,
Thank you very much for sharing your experience.
I have a question. Have you done any blood tests in 2008, including biomarkers CA 27,29?

Fran1947

New Flower said:

Thank you Fran
Fran,
Thank you very much for sharing your experience.
I have a question. Have you done any blood tests in 2008, including biomarkers CA 27,29?

Blood tests
Hi New Flower,

I was seeing my oncologist every 4 months, plus extra times when I had the infections. He did regular blood tests, but I don't think those two were included. I just checked my copies of my records & the marker tests he used were CEA and CA 15-3. Obviously, they weren't so good! I'll ask him about those two when I see him next.

Thanks!

Fran

New Flower

Fran1947 said:

Blood tests
Hi New Flower,

I was seeing my oncologist every 4 months, plus extra times when I had the infections. He did regular blood tests, but I don't think those two were included. I just checked my copies of my records & the marker tests he used were CEA and CA 15-3. Obviously, they weren't so good! I'll ask him about those two when I see him next.

Thanks!

Fran

it is one test C27 29
Fran sorry for confusion. It is one test C27 29. Your search and find a difference. As far as I understand
biomarker test does not give 100% result, you have to use other evaluation techniques.