phylloid tumor

you're not alone!
I've read posts on here with women who have this type of cancer.

It's back a couple of pages.

Welcome to the site, vlennon, although I'm sorry why you're here.

You're not alone and others will be responding soon.

I'll try to find the other phylloid tumor thread and bump it up for you.

[hugs]
dh

Here is some info. Not
Here is some info. Not much, but maybe give you a better idea. Will keep looking for you:
Breast Care
Breast Disorders
Phyllodes Tumor
Phyllodes tumors are rare solid lumps that usually present as a mass found during a woman’s breast self-examination or on a routine physical examination. Smaller masses may be detected mammographically. Phyllodes tumors appear very similar to a benign lump known as a fibroadenoma. These lumps are usually well circumscribed and painless. Imaging evaluation including a mammogram and ultrasound is usually performed and when a solid lump is identified a biopsy is important to obtain tissue for accurate diagnosis. A phyllodes tumor cannot be differentiated from a fibroadenoma by a needle biopsy. This means that your doctor may not be able to accurately tell you whether a solid lump is a benign fibroadenoma or a phyllodes tumor. Risk factors for phyllodes tumor are rapid growth and size greater than 2 cms at the time of the evaluation. In many cases your doctor may recommend complete surgical removal of this mass to ensure that it is not an underlying phyllodes tumor.

Phyllodes tumors are not all cancerous. Many will be classified as benign and not require further evaluation. A skilled pathologist is needed to distinguish a benign phyllodes tumor from one with more aggressive malignant potential. In any event, women who undergo surgery for removal of a phyllodes tumor require close surveillance with followup mammogram and physical examination at regular intervals. Malignant phyllodes tumors are best managed with a wide excision of normal breast tissue around the tumor to obtain clean margins. In most cases, radiation therapy is not required. Very large malignant phyllodes tumors may require complete removal of the breast for management.


MedHelp Member's Question
phyllodes tumors
by Rayne, Aug 15, 2004 12:00AM
Tags: tumors, breast, Cancer, breast cancer, benign, borderline, malignant, mastectomy, metastases, treatment
I am 20 years old and recently had a breast biopsy where they removed a lumpLumps in the breasts that turned out to be a phyllodes tumor. My surgeon informed me that it fell in the classification of being "borderlineBorderline personality disorder". I'm confused as to what borderlineBorderline personality disorder is. I've seen some web sited say it is grouped with the benignBenign ear cyst or tumor
Benign positional vertigo tumors, and then some say it is grouped with the malignantCancer
Gestational trophoblastic disease
Lymphoma, malignant - ct scan
Malignant melanoma
Malignant otitis externa
Melanoma of the eye
Multiple myeloma
Skin cancer, malignant melanoma tumors. So which is it ? I am very confused. ..Doctor's Answer
by CCF-RN,MSN-rf, Aug 16, 2004 12:00AM
Dear Rayne: Phyllodes tumors are not staged in the same manner as breast cancer. The following information regarding phyllodes tumor is directly from the textbook �Cancer: Principles and Practice of Oncology� 6th edition, edited by DeVita,V., Hellman,S., and Rosenberg, S. I hope it is of some help to you. Beyond this, in terms of your individual case, you would need to discuss any additional interpretations with your physician.

�The term phyllodes tumor includes a group of lesions of varying malignantCancer
Gestational trophoblastic disease
Lymphoma, malignant - ct scan
Malignant melanoma
Malignant otitis externa
Melanoma of the eye
Multiple myeloma
Skin cancer, malignant melanoma potential ranging from completely benign (non-cancerous) to fully malignant sarcomas.

Phyllodes tumors are classified as benign, borderline, or malignant based on the nature of the tumor margins (pushing or infiltrative) and presence of cellular atypia, mitotic activity, and overgrowth in the stroma. There is disagreement about which of these criteria is most important, although most experts favor stromal overgrowth. The percentage of phyllodes tumors classified as malignant ranges from 23% to 50%. Axillary metastases are reported in less than 5% of cases, but are a poor prognostic sign when present. Metastases more commonly follow the pattern seen with sarcomas (with lung as the most common site) and histologically resemble sarcomas. Approximately 20% of phyllodes tumors recur locally if excised with no margin or a margin of a few millimeters of normal breast tissue, regardless of whether they are benign or malignant. A wide excision with a 2cm margin of normal breast tissue is appropriate therapy for benign and borderline phyllodes tumors unless they are so large that this is not cosmetically feasible. In the past, many authors have advocated mastectomy for the management of malignant phyllodes tumors. Since phyllodes tumors are not multicentric, there is no clear-cut biologic rationale for mastectomy, and series have reported the successful treatment of malignant phyllodes tumors with wide excision. The use of systemic therapy for malignant phyllodes tumors is based on guidelines for treating sarcomas.�



Part of the reason for removing the tumor is to examine it more carefully to discover if it is benign, borderline or if it has any malignant features. The treatment, regardless, is surgery with wide excision.