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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Breast Cancer / January 2004Answers needed
Hello! Someone newly diagnosed with "Colloid carcinoma or Mucinous carcinoma" in the breast is in need of info. Anyone out there with that? The lump was removed. Next step is Sentinel Lymph Node biopsy and radiation. 1) Can an MRI spot whether or not it has gone beyond the mass membrane? 2) Mammostat: Is putting a tube in the lump and injecting it with radiation 2x a day for 5 days as effective as radiating the breast for 3 or 6 wks? Is it painful? 3) Is radiation always necessary after a lumpectomy? 4) What are the chances it can recur in the same or other breast? 5) Would a masectomy eliminate all chances of reoccurrance? 6) Can a colloid carcinoma occur elsewhere? 7) Does anyone know what's in MAC (Managed Anesthesia Cure). This person got a migraine and nausea for 2 days afterwards. Is there an anesthesis info website or newsgroup? 8) What makes the body produce an excessive amount of estrogen (the cause for this) 9) What treatment alternatives are available (Essiac? Flaxseed oil? A mushroom immune booster?) Thanks. Send replies to: mag@sover.net Colliod carcinoma of the breast in one of the rarer forms of breast cancer. The good news is that it is slow growing. Your MRI question I didn't understand ? are you asking if the tumor has spread ? It can sometimes detect but it is not 100% accurate. Mammostat is a fairly new procedure and the studies have shown it is as effective but due to newest of the procedure it doesn't have the numbers to show it as equal traditional radiation. The chances are always higher once a woman has been diagnosed for a secondary cancer but for an accurate assessment you need to check with your oncologist. With lumpectomy you always have a chance of a local recurrence which is about 8-30% with mastectomy it is rare to have reccurence since most of the breast tissue has been removed. As far as recurrence - you need to ask your doc, who will look at the total equation, tumor size, estrogen status, node status, etc. Estrogen , is your tumor estrogen positive ( not all are ) ? And I don't know if it is excessive amount estrogen or just a tumor that responds tp estrogen. Radiation is always necessary after removal otherwise your tumor will recur. Don't knwo anytihing about migraines. ALex > Hello! Someone newly diagnosed with "Colloid carcinoma or Mucinous > carcinoma" in the breast is in need of info. Anyone out there with that? [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > mushroom immune booster?) > Thanks. Send replies to: mag@sover.net mag wrote: << 3) Is radiation always necessary after a lumpectomy? 5) Would a masectomy eliminate all chances of reoccurrance? >> Radiation significantly reduces risk of local recurrence after lumpectomy. Latest research now suggests that radiation after mastectomy also further lowers risk of recurrence. << 4) What are the chances it can recur in the same or other breast? It depends on the type of cancer as well as variations of that type of cancer itself. There is no way to predict with 100% certainty. As far as chances--if there is a chance of it occuring 25% and you are the one that it happens to--then your chance was 100%. Statistically, you should not get breast cancer--the highest incidence reported in some areas is out of 8 which is 12.5% chance... I know my response was not particularly helpful--but really it is hard to predict and no way to know for sure...Again, it depends on the type of cancer and individual characteristics of the tumor--and not all of that is yet understood and/or known... Mag wrote: << Hello! Someone newly diagnosed with "Colloid carcinoma or Mucinous carcinoma" in the breast is in need of info. >> Alex wrote: Colliod carcinoma of the breast in one of the rarer forms of breast cancer. The good news is that it is slow growing. Your MRI question I didn't understand ? are you asking if the tumor has spread ? It can sometimes detect but it is not 100% accurate. Mammostat is a fairly new procedure and the studies have shown it is as effective but due to newest of the procedure it doesn't have the numbers to show it as equal traditional radiation. The chances are always higher once a woman has been diagnosed for a secondary cancer but for an accurate assessment you need to check with your oncologist. With lumpectomy you always have a chance of a local recurrence which is about 8-30% with mastectomy it is rare to have reccurence since most of the breast tissue has been removed. As far as recurrence - you need to ask your doc, who will look at the total equation, tumor size, estrogen status, node status, etc. Estrogen , is your tumor estrogen positive ( not all are ) ? And I don't know if it is excessive amount estrogen or just a tumor that responds tp estrogen. Radiation is always necessary after removal otherwise your tumor will recur. Don't knwo anytihing about migraines. ALex>> Please, excuse, when I responded to your post, I had forgotten that you had written that you had "colloid carcinoma" or "mucinos carcinoma." Alex is quite right in that generally it is a slower growing cancer, and it has a relatively good or better prognosis than most. She is coming from the position of not only being an R.N. but also having had breast cancer herself. If you have not yet done so, you might want to consider getting a second opinion if at all possible at a large cancer treatment center--often through a university or special center. They review everything, including your pathology slides. Take care and wishing you all the best! I'll answer what questions I can below. Tim Jackson > Hello! Someone newly diagnosed with "Colloid carcinoma or Mucinous > carcinoma" in the breast is in need of info. Anyone out there with that? > The lump was removed. Next step is Sentinel Lymph Node biopsy and radiation. > 1) Can an MRI spot whether or not it has gone beyond the mass membrane? No, it can't be sure it hasn't, but it could prove it has. I think the only definite test is microscopic examination after surgery. > 3) Is radiation always necessary after a lumpectomy? Yes. > 4) What are the chances it can recur in the same or other breast? Moderately high over a lifetime. Higher than the chance of getting bc in the first place. Something in the region of 30-50% off the top on my head. > 5) Would a masectomy eliminate all chances of reoccurrance? No. If cancer has already spread to other body parts then it will make no difference. It would reduce the risk of reccurence and almost eliminate the risk of new primaries. > 8) What makes the body produce an excessive amount of estrogen (the > cause for this) Usually obesity, although I am sure there are other causes. Estrogen is produced in the ovaries and in many other body tissues, particularly fat and muscle. If you have a lot of fat and muscle then you probably have a lot of estrogen. This is particularly true after the menopause, when the regulated output of estrogen from the ovaries shuts down, and what is considered excessive is a smaller physical amount. This is a different issue from "what makes cancers excessively sensitive to estrogen" (ER+ pathology), which is a genetic mutation in the cancer cell that involves creating multiple copies of the gene for estrogen receptors, and so making additional receptors on the cell's surface. > 9) What treatment alternatives are available (Essiac? Flaxseed oil? A > mushroom immune booster?) A plethora. Most of them are not effective against the cancer, some help to improve general health and well-being. Here is a useful reference: http://www.mdanderson.org/cimer and follow the link "Reviews of Therapies" Tim wrote: << > 4) What are the chances it can recur in the same or other breast? Moderately high over a lifetime. Higher than the chance of getting bc in the first place. Something in the region of 30-50% off the top on my head.>> That sounds right but just wanted to add that different types of breast cancer are at greater risk for recurrence (at least in the other breast) than others, particularly invasive lobular. I found one research article (and this was also told to me by a second opinion oncologist) that in relation to invasive lobular it was suggested that the breasts (both) might be regarded as a 'single organ with two mouths.' << > 8) What makes the body produce an excessive amount of estrogen (the > cause for this) Usually obesity, although I am sure there are other causes. Estrogen is produced in the ovaries and in many other body tissues, particularly fat and muscle. If you have a lot of fat and muscle then you probably have a lot of estrogen. This is particularly true after the menopause, when the regulated output of estrogen from the ovaries shuts down, and what is considered excessive is a smaller physical amount. This is a different issue from "what makes cancers excessively sensitive to estrogen" (ER+ pathology), which is a genetic mutation in the cancer cell that involves creating multiple copies of the gene for estrogen receptors, and so making additional receptors on the cell's surface.>> Although the above describes what may happen, there are still some who are ER+ with breast cancer who are not obese. I am not sure that all the involved mechanisms are understood. I also find it interesting that although the cancer cell can be tested for response to estrogen, that estrogen levels themself are not test. I am guessing that could be done through a blood test just as one can test for other hormones such as excess testosterone, which by the way, is also associated with higher rates of breast cancer in women--although don't know if that happens after the fact. > 9) What treatment alternatives are available (Essiac? Flaxseed oil? A > mushroom immune booster?) A plethora. Most of them are not effective against the cancer, some help to improve general health and well-being. Here is a useful reference: Researchers are also finding that certain prescription medications, not researched for breast cancer but approved for other conditions, may also help control breast cancer. If interested, you can do a websearch on google, yahoo, or ? Some of these include: statin drugs for lowering cholesterol (i.e. mevacor or lovastatin)' the NSAID cox 2 inhibitor, Celebrex (which also is an anti-angiogenesis agent (which may reduce or inhibit the formation of new blood cells which, if taking place, can feed new tumor cells--or works something like that--and may also inhibit the hepatic pathway as well); the antibiotic Doxycycline or Tetracycline (which may help control, repair, (and inhibit?) with bone metastases; IV bisphosphonate (Zometa) at prophylactic dose which may also prevent/control osteoporosis and possibly prevent or control 'events' of bone metastases. In addition, it has also been suggested that drinking an 8 oz. glass of red grape juice each day may have a protective effect. I have also read that supplements of COQ 10 may be helpful along with, Reishi mushroom extract, Tumeric (cumerin), milk thistle, green tea, and others... If interested, I have some research information re. some of the above alternative medication, which I am also taking re. oncologist approval. I have no idea if they are helping, although one of my tumor markers which had been steadily rising over a 21 month period, stabiized right after I started two alternative medications and steadily decreased over the next 5 or 6 months until it again stabilized at the low level it was at time of my diagnosis. << > 9) What treatment alternatives are available >> Also, I forgot to mention that some research suggests that exercise may also help--am guessing that might help more reduce estrogen levels and would be of more help in those who are ER+ I am guessing that regular sleep patterns during the night might help, too since there may be some connection re. melatonin levels or exposure. That is based on relatively newly released research findings that night workers have a higher risk of developing breast cancer, although am not sure if a definate causative factor has been identified. |
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