Oncologist advice - no scan

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Jennifer1961
Jennifer1961 Member Posts: 137
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
First consult with oncologist today. I am stage 2a, no nodes, 3cm tumor removed by lumpectomy. The oncologist says he will order a scan if I want one, but seems to believe that the amount of radiation the body receives in a scan is a risk that outweighs the small chance it might have spread (says 1 to 2%). Anyone else had this told to them? I'm going for a second opinion in a couple of weeks, but just curious.

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  • TraciInLA
    TraciInLA Member Posts: 1,994 Member
    #2
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    Hi, Jennifer -
    Not sure which kind of scan you mean -- MRI? PET scan?

    I was stage 1, had very tiny (2 mm) tumors in both breasts, and had bilateral lumpectomies and sentinel node biopsies last year.

    My oncologist ordered a PET/CT scan before surgery, primarily because I had tumors in both breasts, so there was a higher chance that the cancer could have spread. PET/CT was negative, and all sentinel nodes taken during surgery were negative as well -- I haven't had any other types of scans since surgery.

    Don't know if that helps?

    Traci
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #3
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    This is a new trend....
    CT scans deliver the same amount of rads as 400 X-rays...

    The healthcare community are being much more cautious about doing them...

    Hugs, Kathi
  • New Flower
    New Flower Member Posts: 4,294
    #4
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    KathiM said:

    This is a new trend....
    CT scans deliver the same amount of rads as 400 X-rays...

    The healthcare community are being much more cautious about doing them...

    Hugs, Kathi

    I would ask for Scan
    just to be sure. Hopefully it will come back negative, but gives you apiece of mind.
    Good luck
  • m-star
    m-star Member Posts: 441
    #5
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    New Flower said:

    I would ask for Scan
    just to be sure. Hopefully it will come back negative, but gives you apiece of mind.
    Good luck

    or get an MRI as this is
    or get an MRI as this is done with magnetic imaging and has NO radiation
  • jnl
    jnl Member Posts: 3,869 Member
    #6
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    TraciInLA said:

    Hi, Jennifer -
    Not sure which kind of scan you mean -- MRI? PET scan?

    I was stage 1, had very tiny (2 mm) tumors in both breasts, and had bilateral lumpectomies and sentinel node biopsies last year.

    My oncologist ordered a PET/CT scan before surgery, primarily because I had tumors in both breasts, so there was a higher chance that the cancer could have spread. PET/CT was negative, and all sentinel nodes taken during surgery were negative as well -- I haven't had any other types of scans since surgery.

    Don't know if that helps?

    Traci

    My oncologist ordered a MRI
    My oncologist ordered a MRI before my surgery to make sure there was no other cancer in me. And, there wasn't!
  • greyhoundluvr
    greyhoundluvr Member Posts: 402
    #7
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    Jennifer -
    I am a 2a also - I had a smaller tumor but had 2 positive nodes. My oncologist indicated that they did not typically order the PET scans unless the nodes were positive or there was some other concern present (so I had one about a month after surgery). I think it is almost harder when some of these things are "optional" - when it comes to issues as complex as these, I would rather have a "you need it" or "you don't." I could only recommend to go with your gut instinct - if it is going to worry you not to have it done, I would ask for it also. Best wishes....

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