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I had a small stage 1 breast cancer removed a couple of ...
Sent to Health Experts November 04 05:34 PM

I had a small stage 1 breast cancer removed a couple of weeks ago with nothing in the lymph nodes and nothing showing on the breast MRI. Now they want me to take 6 weeks of radiation to the whole breast everyday. Is this necessary. It seem like "overkill" since there is nothing there. If it had been in the lymph nodes I wouldn't hesitate. What should I do?

 

Optional Information:
Female, Age: 73, Mississippi

Already Tried:
Surgery to remove the cancer

Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Status:  Closed   Value: $9
Answer
November 4 5:43 PM (8 minutes and 18 seconds later)
         
ACCEPTEDCheck Mark
Whole breast radiation is the standard of care for even stage 1 breast cancer. Just because the tumor was small and your margins were negative (I'm assuming they are), there's a chance that you may have microscopic (non-palpable & too small to be picked up on MRI) cancer remaining. Radiation is given to "mop up" any remaining microscopic disease and has been shown to significantly reduce your risk of local recurrence. There's nothing unusual or overly aggressive with radiation for your disease. The very idea of getting radiation can be scary but with modern techniques, the associated risks are quite minor and it's really in your best interests to go ahead with treatment. Hope this helps.
JE Sramek MD -- Doctor (MD) -- 100% Positive Feedback on 205 Health Accepts
Specializing in Pathology, I excel at making test results and cancer understandable.
Reply
November 4 5:53 PM (9 minutes and 56 seconds later)
         
Thank you that helps me to understand why they thought it necessary even though it is gone, for now.

However my surgeon had a patient that had the smae thing. He removed everything and checked the lymp nodes found nothing. She moved to N>Y> went to Slone Kettering and they told her she didn't need andything further. Why do you suppose she was told that?
Customer (name blocked for privacy)
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