I was diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. Is one positive node out of 9 just as bad as 9 out of 9?

Question

Given that inflammatory breast cancer is a cancer of the breast lymphatics, is one positive node out of 9 as bad as if it were 9 out of 9?

Answer 1

Inflammatory breast cancer isn't a cancer OF the breast's lymphatic channels per se, it is a cancer that is CLOGGING the lymphatic channels in the overlying skin of the breast. For this reason, the normal flow of water through these channels is impeded and the skin becomes swollen. The actual cancer is still of breast duct origin.

This is one of the more aggressive forms of breast cancer, and unfortunately it is relatively rare compared to the other forms. The reason that I say "unfortunately" is that unlike other aspects of breast cancer in which literally tens of thousands of patients are grouped into studies, treatment studies for inflammatory cancer contain data sets of maybe 50 or 100ish patients and their results.

The problem with inflammatory cancer is that it falls under the category of "locally advanced" meaning that it is invading into a structure that would make it hard to remove surgically. Breast cancers that are stuck into to the underlying muscles or which invade into the skin make total removal much more difficult. The problem could be that a surgeon removes the tumor, but not completely, and then it has the strong likelihood of growing back.

Inflammatory breast cancer can sometimes be "downstaged" by giving the patient therapy up front, prior to planning a surgical removal. The specifics of this are best discussed with your surgeon or your oncologist, but the bottom line is that this is often effective, and an operation can be planned. However, the role of surgery should not be played up too strongly. The 5 year survival rate in this condition is low, and the things that will ultimately improve that are not surgical, but instead improvements in the chemotherapy treatments that attack cancer at a cellular level.

Lymph node evaluation tells us about the characteristics of the cancer in terms of whether or not it has developed the propensity to spread. In your case, it has. Although the stage of a breast cancer involves consideration of the number of involved lymph nodes, any decisions that are made about therapy for you will be more influenced by the fact that your cancer was locally advanced at the time of discovery. You are node-positive which means that there is yet more evidence that this is an aggressive disease, but this much was already known once you were designated as having "inflammatory" cancer. The bottom line is that no matter what stage grouping you actually fall under, you will be recommended for aggressive chemotherapy.

Good luck to you, and I applaud your inquisitive nature. It is always best to get as much information about these types of things as possible. If i can be of any assistance in this respect, please feel free to contact me.

Answer 2

one is not good but nine would be worse. This mean your cancer has spread past the breast.

You should have a pet/ct scan to properly stage your cancer. This allows the rest of your body to be checkedsuch as -brain, bone, lungs, etc. most doctors only want to do cat scans butpet scans are 25% more accurate.

i would get a second opinion and do research. do not take your doctors word as gospel. get the facts.

Answer 3

9 of 9 = 100%, while 1 of 9 is 1/9th of 100%
(9/9 = 100%) whatever it is, it's not good!

that said, its not as bad as 100%
great good luck to ya....

Answer 4

Check out this website. Even though it can answer some questions, you still need to discuss this with your doctor.

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Sites-Types/IBC

Answer 5

Good luck with your treatment Mary.

Answer 6

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hope this helps

Answer 7

Ask this of your doctor.