Lumpectomy Close Margins

mimikitty
mimikitty Member Posts: 30 Member
edited May 2012 in Breast Cancer #1
Hello,

I wonder if anyone might have had a similar experience as mine and how they followed up?

I had a lumpectomy last Thursday. The pathology report says the margins were "close" for both the DCIS and invasive cancer components of my tumor. The distance from the margin for each is 1 mm. My surgeon didn't recommend additional surgery in our phone conversation and she seemed to indicate the radiation treatment should take care of it. I will meet with her for a follow-up appointment tomorrow. Has anyone gone for additional surgery to remove the close margin?

My cancer characteristics are as follows: Infiltrative Ductal Carcinoma, tumor largest width 1.7 cm, HER2-/ER+/PR+/KI67+ low (10-15%).

Thanks in advance for any input.

Comments

  • ksf56
    ksf56 Member Posts: 202
    #2
    Yep
    I had my second lumpectomy about 2 weeks after the first one due to narrow margins - I was pretty disappointed to be going back in for more surgery but I wanted to do whatever I could to get rid of any possible cancer cells that might still be there. I had Triple Negative Invasive Ductal Carcinoma - Stage 1 and grade 3 - so my cancer was a different kind than yours. Our situations are different. I had chemo and radiation too. I did everything I could to eradicate this menace from my body.

    I hope the best for you and know that you're in my prayers!
    Karen
  • joannstar
    joannstar Member Posts: 403 Member
    #3
    Me too
    I could have written exactly what Karen wrote--same type/stage of cancer, same experience with margins.
    Approaching 2 years from surgeries (8/19/10) and over 1 year out of treatment. My energy is coming back and life is getting better.
    Good luck to you.
    JoAnn
  • missrenee
    missrenee Member Posts: 2,136 Member
    #4
    joannstar said:

    Me too
    I could have written exactly what Karen wrote--same type/stage of cancer, same experience with margins.
    Approaching 2 years from surgeries (8/19/10) and over 1 year out of treatment. My energy is coming back and life is getting better.
    Good luck to you.
    JoAnn

    Me too as well
    I had a re-excision about 2 weeks after my lumpectomy due to the margins not being clear. However, I had 10 positive nodes, so I was Stage 3C at that time. I now have bone metastasis (about 2 1/2 years later), which had everything to do with all the positive nodes.

    Good luck.

    Hugs, Renee
  • MsGebby
    MsGebby Member Posts: 659
    #5
    I could've written
    that post. My tumor was larger ( 3 cm ) and my Ki67 was very high. My doctor said something to the effect that 1mm close to the margin is considered as needing a re incision. She said if it was less than that, radiation would be it.

    I don't want to scare you. I am just saying what she told me. I had the second surgery about 3 weeks later.

    My personal thought on this is .... I would talk to my doctor again about the margins. If you are not comfortable about what you hear, a second opinion might help you make your decision. Being your own advocate is so important.

    I am pasting a link here from breastcancer.org. You might find some answers here.

    http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/margins.jsp

    Keep us posted on your journey.

    Prayers and hugs,

    Mary
  • sdukowitz
    sdukowitz Member Posts: 250
    #6
    I think a second or even a
    I think a second or even a third opinion might help in thst decision .... I had radiation ... the Canadian shortened type but not the extra reincision but each type of cancer and margins differ mine were not even specifically stated on the path report and we had to keep personally calling the surgeon and he said he went back and took out more to get a clear margin but it really made me mad that it wasnt even inthe path report! Mine was DCIS estrogen and progesterone positive so now am on tamoxifin but getting another opinion about that soon ...... Sue D
  • laughs_a_lot
    laughs_a_lot Member Posts: 1,368 Member
    #7
    1 mm margins
    I had 1 mm margins on my lumpectomy and did not give it a whole lot of thought as the largest dimension was 6.6 cm. I did have a few suspicious cells on my 6 month mamogram. They went back in and biopsied took them out. I had triple negative bc which is really aggressive so they nor I wanted to take a chance. Once the biopsy came back it was negative for cancer. I seem to have an instinct about such things however, I was unwilling to take the chance it was going to be negative merely on instinct. I was not worried too much about the margins as the tumor was so big.
  • disneyfan2008
    disneyfan2008 Member Posts: 6,583 Member
    #8
    I have never been told any
    I have never been told any #s or the word margins etc...from any of my doctors. All I hear is all test good..which of course is wonderful..but pre/ post etc..never heard some lingo I read here...

    Denise
  • Alexis F
    Alexis F Member Posts: 3,598
    #9
    ksf56 said:

    Yep
    I had my second lumpectomy about 2 weeks after the first one due to narrow margins - I was pretty disappointed to be going back in for more surgery but I wanted to do whatever I could to get rid of any possible cancer cells that might still be there. I had Triple Negative Invasive Ductal Carcinoma - Stage 1 and grade 3 - so my cancer was a different kind than yours. Our situations are different. I had chemo and radiation too. I did everything I could to eradicate this menace from my body.

    I hope the best for you and know that you're in my prayers!
    Karen

    My breast surgeon got clean
    My breast surgeon got clean margins with my lumpectomy. You said your surgeon said that rads would take care of it. Have you talked to your oncologist about this?

    You might want another opinion as to whether or not you should go back for surgery to get a wider clearer margin.


    I hope you don't have to, but, I think I would at least pursue this further with my onco and maybe another surgeon.

    Good luck,


    Lex

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