invasive ductal carcinoma without chemo

Nobody "has" to go through chemotherapy. It is a choice that only the patient can make. The doctors usually recommend chemo for folks who have invasive ductal carcinoma which has spread to the nodes because it usually gives you better odds. There is some discussion currently going on in the research that is wondering if this is always true. Possible if your cancer is estrogen receptor positive hormone treatment "might" be enough, but the research has not examined this in any study that I have read so far and I'm not sure who would be willing to be the subject if they knew that they might be turning down a treatment that has proven effective in saving lives for an unknown option. If cancer has spread to your nodes, it is showing that genetically it has already developed into something that can travel from the breast and set up house elsewhere. That's aggressive. Chemo is serious medicine for a serious disease, but you can always say no to treatment. Oncologists present the odds and let you choose from what I've experienced. Talk over the pros and cons of various treatments with your oncologist and decide what is best for you given your kind of cancer and your state of health. I'm sure you will make the decision that is right for you.

nbritton said:

Thanks for your resposce I recently went through a series of test and all the tests came back negative. My oncologist told me that the cancer still in the original place it started this was good news I guess I am confused on a lot of things.

Do you have a copy of your path report from your biopsy and/or surgery? That will have a lot of information that will help you. The final path report is full of medical terms, but if you go through them slowly (ask for help here if needed) you will begin to understand what you have and what is needed. One thing that is on the path report is your stage of cancer. Another thing that is very important is the estrogen receptor test and the HER test. Do you know how you did on those? Breast cancer IN the breast does not usually kill people today because surgeon can remove it. But breast cancer that travels to your lungs, liver, or bones can cause a whole lot of problems. That is why the oncologist will read over your path report as well as the surgery report and tell you what he thinks you need for your kind of cancer. Not all breast cancers need chemo but some do if you want to have a fighting chance against the "beast".

beadmom said:

I had DCIS which is ductile carcinoma in sito in May 2004. Opted for double mastectomy because we could not get clear margins after 2 lumpectomies and we needed a biopsy of left breast to check out something suspicious behind the nipple. Pathology reported microinvasions following surgery, but I never saw an oncologist, because in sito means cancer is contained in breast and my Breast cancer doctor thought we had it all. I did have sentinel node surgery with clean nodes. Nov 2007 we discovered cancer had SPRED to my liver. I became so fatigued I could do nothing for weeks. I will always wonder if I had chemo in 2004 if we would have kept it contained. Nov. started Xeloda & Tykerb pills which worked until last month. I now get weekly IV of Taxol & herceptin until we get this under control. Doc hopes to add Tykerb soon, but it gave me diarea which became harder to stop and I lost more weight. Make sure of your choices, because we all want to live as long as possible with a quality of life. Keep a positive attitude and God bless.

God bless you beadmom.I have just had a mastectomy with some lymph nodes removed on June 6,2008.this was invasive ductal carcinoma, but the surgeon said the lymph nodes were clean. I t is scary to think that it could come back elsewhere in my body. Because it was estrogen receptive I still take Aromasin.It is only a month so I will wait to see what else is in store for me. keep a positive attitude,it does help and good luck