Really confused about stage 2 cancer diagnosis today

Touchdown99
Touchdown99 Member Posts: 31
in Uterine/Endometrial Cancer #1
After having a vaginal hysterectomy, my Mom (mid 60's) went back to her obgyn for her hysterectomy follow up and was told she had Stage 2 cancer. Here is exactly what the Dr. said: "invasive adenocarcinoma. Invasion into outer half of muscle of uterus. No extension to outside of uterus. Stage 2". He wrote this down for my mom. How does this all sound to you? What does he mean that there is no extension to outside of uterus, yet he also wrote invasion into outer half of muscle of uterus? He said he thinks it can be treated with radiation. Her appointment with the gyn oncologist is in about 10 days. We would really appreciate any thoughts or insight. Thank you so much.

Comments

  • Northwoodsgirl
    Northwoodsgirl Member Posts: 571
    #2
    Mom with uterine cancer
    Your Mom needs to be told the stage and grade of her endometrial cancer. Most people are treated with Taxol and Carboplatin sandwiched with radiation in the middle of cycle of chemo every 21 days. The radiation is external and also could be internal (brachytherapy). The invasion of the cancer into the depth of the uterine wall is an indication of how extensive the cancer is.
    Did your Mom have lymph nodes tested for cancer cells? She should have had lymph nodes removed and notes from peri-aortic (higher up in abdominal cavity).
    She should see a gynecologist/oncologist surgeon.
    My Mom and I both developed uterine cancer about 4 yrs apart. Unfortunately my Mom lost her life to the cancer and I am "no evidence of disease". They never really tell you that you are cancer free....maybe if you survive 5 yrs.
    Lori
  • Kaleena
    Kaleena Member Posts: 2,088 Member
    #3
    Dear Touchdown:
    Sorry to
    Dear Touchdown:

    Sorry to hear about your Mom's diagnosis. You didn't say whether or mom believed she had cancer and the reason for her hysterectomy.

    I had a hysterectomy for other reasons and then found out that they found cancer. Because they were suspecting cancer when they did the hysterectomy, I had to have another surgery for the staging part of it to be sure. I was diagnosed with Grade 2, Stage ii/iiiA. I had 12 treatment of chemo over six months and then three brachytherapies.

    Ask to have a copy of the report. (Although be advised that the report can be overwhelming when looking at it - a lot of medical stuff, etc.) Also, she may want to get another opinion on her treatment. But she will need to find out the Grade also.

    Sending prayers and comforting thoughts to you and your mom,

    Kathy
  • Touchdown99
    Touchdown99 Member Posts: 31
    #4
    Northwoodsgirl said:

    Mom with uterine cancer
    Your Mom needs to be told the stage and grade of her endometrial cancer. Most people are treated with Taxol and Carboplatin sandwiched with radiation in the middle of cycle of chemo every 21 days. The radiation is external and also could be internal (brachytherapy). The invasion of the cancer into the depth of the uterine wall is an indication of how extensive the cancer is.
    Did your Mom have lymph nodes tested for cancer cells? She should have had lymph nodes removed and notes from peri-aortic (higher up in abdominal cavity).
    She should see a gynecologist/oncologist surgeon.
    My Mom and I both developed uterine cancer about 4 yrs apart. Unfortunately my Mom lost her life to the cancer and I am "no evidence of disease". They never really tell you that you are cancer free....maybe if you survive 5 yrs.
    Lori

    Hi Lori, thank you for
    Hi Lori, thank you for replying. I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. It's wonderful that you are cancer free. What stages of cancer did you and your mom have? I really appreciate your thoughts. Sometimes waiting and no really knowing what comes next is so hard. Here's the general timeline of the whole thing. By the way, mom has pap tests every year like she is supposed to and all have been fine.

    March 2011 post menopausal bleeding, makes appointment with her obgyn.

    Late April 2011: obgyn orders ultrasound etc.

    May 2011: ultrasound and exam found 2 masses in uterus, obgyn does D&C.

    Late May 2011: obgyn says one mass was a polyp and the other was calcified fibroid. They were "pre-cancerous" but not cancerous so obgyn decides to do a vaginal hysterectomy and leave ovaries if they are okay.

    June 2011: obgyn does hysterectomy. No problems. Mom follows directions for recovery.

    Early July 2011: Mom goes in for post hysterectomy appointment and obgyn says she is healing nicely; but she has stage 2 adenocarcinoma. He says "invasive adenocarcinoma. Invasion into outer half of muscle of uterus. No extension to outside of uterus. Stage 2." He says he has been consulting with obgyn oncologist and makes an appointment for mom with that gyn oncologist for mid July, the gyn oncologist is at the biggest university hospital in our state. We are waiting on that appointment. Mom's regular obgyn told us several times that this would be treated with radiation.
  • Touchdown99
    Touchdown99 Member Posts: 31
    #5
    Kaleena said:

    Dear Touchdown:
    Sorry to
    Dear Touchdown:

    Sorry to hear about your Mom's diagnosis. You didn't say whether or mom believed she had cancer and the reason for her hysterectomy.

    I had a hysterectomy for other reasons and then found out that they found cancer. Because they were suspecting cancer when they did the hysterectomy, I had to have another surgery for the staging part of it to be sure. I was diagnosed with Grade 2, Stage ii/iiiA. I had 12 treatment of chemo over six months and then three brachytherapies.

    Ask to have a copy of the report. (Although be advised that the report can be overwhelming when looking at it - a lot of medical stuff, etc.) Also, she may want to get another opinion on her treatment. But she will need to find out the Grade also.

    Sending prayers and comforting thoughts to you and your mom,

    Kathy

    Thank you Kathy. Are you
    Thank you Kathy. Are you cancer free now? Is what my mom has usually treatable or curable? Thank you again for your thoughts.

    Late April 2011: obgyn orders ultrasound etc. since there had been post menopausal bleeding in march.

    May 2011: ultrasound and exam found 2 masses in uterus, obgyn does D&C.

    Late May 2011: obgyn says one mass was a polyp and the other was calcified fibroid. They were "pre-cancerous" but not cancerous so obgyn decides to do a vaginal hysterectomy and leave ovaries if they are okay.

    June 2011: obgyn does hysterectomy. No problems. Mom follows directions for recovery.

    Early July 2011: Mom goes in for post hysterectomy appointment and obgyn says she is healing nicely; but she has stage 2 adenocarcinoma. He says "invasive adenocarcinoma. Invasion into outer half of muscle of uterus. No extension to outside of uterus. Stage 2." He says he has been consulting with obgyn oncologist and makes an appointment for mom with that gyn oncologist for mid July, the gyn oncologist is at the biggest university hospital in our state. We are waiting on that appointment. Mom's regular obgyn told us several times that this would be treated with radiation.
  • california_artist
    california_artist Member Posts: 816 Member
    #6
    Cancer guideline website info
    http://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/f_guidelines.asp

    If you go to this site and register, which takes a few minutes, you can read the current guidelines regarding how cancers are staged, surgery guidelines, and treatment standards.

    Under the stagin guidelines, it spells out the differnce between a Stage 2A, Stage 3A, Stage 4C, etc.

    I found it wonderfully helpful when I was dazed and amazed in the beginning of this journey.

    Uterine cancer may be under endometrial cancers. Not sure.
  • paris11
    paris11 Member Posts: 159
    #7
    Touchdown99 said:

    Thank you Kathy. Are you
    Thank you Kathy. Are you cancer free now? Is what my mom has usually treatable or curable? Thank you again for your thoughts.

    Late April 2011: obgyn orders ultrasound etc. since there had been post menopausal bleeding in march.

    May 2011: ultrasound and exam found 2 masses in uterus, obgyn does D&C.

    Late May 2011: obgyn says one mass was a polyp and the other was calcified fibroid. They were "pre-cancerous" but not cancerous so obgyn decides to do a vaginal hysterectomy and leave ovaries if they are okay.

    June 2011: obgyn does hysterectomy. No problems. Mom follows directions for recovery.

    Early July 2011: Mom goes in for post hysterectomy appointment and obgyn says she is healing nicely; but she has stage 2 adenocarcinoma. He says "invasive adenocarcinoma. Invasion into outer half of muscle of uterus. No extension to outside of uterus. Stage 2." He says he has been consulting with obgyn oncologist and makes an appointment for mom with that gyn oncologist for mid July, the gyn oncologist is at the biggest university hospital in our state. We are waiting on that appointment. Mom's regular obgyn told us several times that this would be treated with radiation.

    HI TD
    First of all, so sorry about your Mom. Cancer is a chronic disease and a difficult disease, but cancer can be managed.

    Your mom is really lucky to have you on her side. Support is essential.

    January 2007, I was dx with endo. cancer Stage !C Grade 2. My gyn-onc was young and inexperienced, and I was 69 and too trusting. I had been treated at that highly regarded hospital for 40 years. I had always received exceptional care.

    The gyn-onc recommended surgery and 3tx internal radiation. No chemo. The cancer kept spreading and a blood clot put me in the ER 8 months later.

    I regret to this day that I didn't go for a second opinion. Although, my family and I did make several phone calls to physicians. The response was" Stage 1 - no problem".

    On the way into surgery another gyn-onc said, "If you have to get cancer, endometrial cancer is the one to get". Oh, yeah???

    Pure chance - while in-patient for blood clot, a superb, super nice gyn-onc, super brilliant leader in the field was on call. He has cared for me for the past 3.7 years and I am fine.

    It's going to be OK.

    Love to you and your Mom,

    Connie
  • Touchdown99
    Touchdown99 Member Posts: 31
    #8
    paris11 said:

    HI TD
    First of all, so sorry about your Mom. Cancer is a chronic disease and a difficult disease, but cancer can be managed.

    Your mom is really lucky to have you on her side. Support is essential.

    January 2007, I was dx with endo. cancer Stage !C Grade 2. My gyn-onc was young and inexperienced, and I was 69 and too trusting. I had been treated at that highly regarded hospital for 40 years. I had always received exceptional care.

    The gyn-onc recommended surgery and 3tx internal radiation. No chemo. The cancer kept spreading and a blood clot put me in the ER 8 months later.

    I regret to this day that I didn't go for a second opinion. Although, my family and I did make several phone calls to physicians. The response was" Stage 1 - no problem".

    On the way into surgery another gyn-onc said, "If you have to get cancer, endometrial cancer is the one to get". Oh, yeah???

    Pure chance - while in-patient for blood clot, a superb, super nice gyn-onc, super brilliant leader in the field was on call. He has cared for me for the past 3.7 years and I am fine.

    It's going to be OK.

    Love to you and your Mom,

    Connie

    Connie: thank you for the
    Connie: thank you for the kind words and I am very glad you are doing okay. I wish we understood more about the statements "invasion into outer half of muscle of uterus" and then "no extension to outside of uterus". I guess we will find out when we meet with the oncologist in about 9 days. Thank you again, your story and your kindness meant alot to me.
  • TiggersDoBounce
    TiggersDoBounce Member Posts: 408
    #9
    Your Mom
    So when they did the Hysterectomy they did not remover her ovaries??

    I would ask the Doc about that if they did. Also get a copy of the post operative report.

    Is her surgeon a GYN Oncologist? Has she been referred to one?

    Keep us posted and stay in touch!

    Laurie
  • Touchdown99
    Touchdown99 Member Posts: 31
    #10
    TiggersDoBounce said:

    Your Mom
    So when they did the Hysterectomy they did not remover her ovaries??

    I would ask the Doc about that if they did. Also get a copy of the post operative report.

    Is her surgeon a GYN Oncologist? Has she been referred to one?

    Keep us posted and stay in touch!

    Laurie

    Hi Laurie, thank you for
    Hi Laurie, thank you for responding. They didn't remove mom's ovaries during the hysterectomy because all the obgyn didn't believe cancer was present based on results from the D&C. The obgyn said studies showed that women under 65 lived longer if they kept their ovaries unless cancer was present or he found a problem with the ovaries. The obgyn, not an oncologist, did the hysterectomy because there was no cancer. He did a vaginal hysterectomy. All went well and when mom went back for the follow up, he said "invasive adenocarcinoma. Invaded outer half of muscle of uterus. No extension to outside of uterus. Stage 2." so he made mom an appt with a great obgyn oncologist who will handle it from here in cooperation with the obgyn. He said he has been talking with the obgyn oncologist and his understanding is that this will be treated with radiation. Our appt is in about 9 days and the obgyn seemed really optimistic. When I look up staging info, this sounds exactly like stage 1c but the dr wrote down staff 2. Any thoughts or anything?
  • TiggersDoBounce
    TiggersDoBounce Member Posts: 408
    #11
    Touchdown99 said:

    Hi Laurie, thank you for
    Hi Laurie, thank you for responding. They didn't remove mom's ovaries during the hysterectomy because all the obgyn didn't believe cancer was present based on results from the D&C. The obgyn said studies showed that women under 65 lived longer if they kept their ovaries unless cancer was present or he found a problem with the ovaries. The obgyn, not an oncologist, did the hysterectomy because there was no cancer. He did a vaginal hysterectomy. All went well and when mom went back for the follow up, he said "invasive adenocarcinoma. Invaded outer half of muscle of uterus. No extension to outside of uterus. Stage 2." so he made mom an appt with a great obgyn oncologist who will handle it from here in cooperation with the obgyn. He said he has been talking with the obgyn oncologist and his understanding is that this will be treated with radiation. Our appt is in about 9 days and the obgyn seemed really optimistic. When I look up staging info, this sounds exactly like stage 1c but the dr wrote down staff 2. Any thoughts or anything?

    Touchdown
    Did you get the post op report? If not, ask for one. The staging and grading come from a combination of the surgery and invasiveness of the cancer where the grading I believe comes from the pathology on the tumor and cells. Since I am not reading any mention of Lymph node or mestastisizing of the tumor, chances are she could be th 1-2.

    All of this needs to be carefully explained to both of you and from there is where your treatment plan will come. I would ask about the ovaries however, as Uterine Cancer has estrogen involvement which is why usually the ovaries are removed.

    When is her appointment??

    Laurie
  • RGK
    RGK Member Posts: 20
    #12
    Touchdown99 said:

    Hi Laurie, thank you for
    Hi Laurie, thank you for responding. They didn't remove mom's ovaries during the hysterectomy because all the obgyn didn't believe cancer was present based on results from the D&C. The obgyn said studies showed that women under 65 lived longer if they kept their ovaries unless cancer was present or he found a problem with the ovaries. The obgyn, not an oncologist, did the hysterectomy because there was no cancer. He did a vaginal hysterectomy. All went well and when mom went back for the follow up, he said "invasive adenocarcinoma. Invaded outer half of muscle of uterus. No extension to outside of uterus. Stage 2." so he made mom an appt with a great obgyn oncologist who will handle it from here in cooperation with the obgyn. He said he has been talking with the obgyn oncologist and his understanding is that this will be treated with radiation. Our appt is in about 9 days and the obgyn seemed really optimistic. When I look up staging info, this sounds exactly like stage 1c but the dr wrote down staff 2. Any thoughts or anything?

    Hi Touchdown99,
    First, it's
    Hi Touchdown99,

    First, it's great that you found your way to this site, and I hope that your mother is recovering well. I'm very glad that your mom has been referred to a gyn/onc. He or she will give you more information about the results of the surgery, the pathology report, and what treatment might be recommended from here. I'm not a doctor, but my understanding of "invaded half of muscle of uterus" means that the cancer was found to have invaded more than 50% into the myometrium, or the uterine wall. "No extension to outside of uterus" probably means that he or she didn't find evidence of cancer in the cervix, ovaries, or fallopian tubes, but you should get more information about what was surveyed. Sampling of the lymph nodes is required for a complete staging of the cancer; you'll want to find out if the gynecologist did this. And you'll want to ask about the grade of the cancer -- that tells you how aggressive the cancer is and how likely it is to spread.

    I hope that you'll continue to post with questions and let us know how your mother's doing. This site is a great source of information and support. Holding you and your mom in my thoughts and wishing you well!

    Reg
  • Touchdown99
    Touchdown99 Member Posts: 31
    #13
    RGK said:

    Hi Touchdown99,
    First, it's
    Hi Touchdown99,

    First, it's great that you found your way to this site, and I hope that your mother is recovering well. I'm very glad that your mom has been referred to a gyn/onc. He or she will give you more information about the results of the surgery, the pathology report, and what treatment might be recommended from here. I'm not a doctor, but my understanding of "invaded half of muscle of uterus" means that the cancer was found to have invaded more than 50% into the myometrium, or the uterine wall. "No extension to outside of uterus" probably means that he or she didn't find evidence of cancer in the cervix, ovaries, or fallopian tubes, but you should get more information about what was surveyed. Sampling of the lymph nodes is required for a complete staging of the cancer; you'll want to find out if the gynecologist did this. And you'll want to ask about the grade of the cancer -- that tells you how aggressive the cancer is and how likely it is to spread.

    I hope that you'll continue to post with questions and let us know how your mother's doing. This site is a great source of information and support. Holding you and your mom in my thoughts and wishing you well!

    Reg

    Thank you so much Reg, and
    Thank you so much Reg, and everyone for posting. I hope you are right, and if you are then wouldn't that mean the cancer was removed since the uterus was removed in the hysterectomy? Or am I misunderstanding what the muscle of the uterus or myometrium is? Thank you so much!
  • TiggersDoBounce
    TiggersDoBounce Member Posts: 408
    #14
    Touchdown99 said:

    Thank you so much Reg, and
    Thank you so much Reg, and everyone for posting. I hope you are right, and if you are then wouldn't that mean the cancer was removed since the uterus was removed in the hysterectomy? Or am I misunderstanding what the muscle of the uterus or myometrium is? Thank you so much!

    Touchdown
    Yes you are correct...if they state it was contained inside the uterine wall and there is no Lymph node involvement....it is better news of course. However during surgery they sometimes remove surrounding Lymph nodes to be sure nothing has "escaped". Also they sometimes do a "pelvic washing" to get a determination of cells in the area.

    I would be most concerned about the ovaries and do they believe it is safe for them to remain.
    In Estrogen positive cancers, since Estrogen can feed the cancer, they are usually removed.

    We await news from your appointment with your Mom.

    Let her know we are thinking of her!

    Laurie

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