Scan post treatment - YES OR NO???
My mum had stage three triple negative breast cancer. She had a mastectomy in December last year, 6 months of aggressive chemotherapy followed by a course of radiotherapy. Besides having a bone scan when first diagnosed she has not had any other scan. Her oncologist stated she does not find a scan post treatment useful. Instead mum will rotate between seeing the oncologist and the surgeon every four months. Basically she waits and see if she develops any symptoms. In theory I can understand why a scan may show false positives and unnecessary tests and stress however I believe Mum feels she has had no closure after her course of treatment and is just waiting for a tumour to pop up somewhere? She has not had any "markers" taken - unsure of the terminology. I was hoping to get some feedback on whether I should encourage her to push for more tests - or hear from others as to whether scans etc created more stress and worry than they were worth.Treatment options? Trials?
Mum has been diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. She has had breast removal and of the 11 lympth nodes removed 8 tested positive. Scans have not revealed any secondary cancers. She begins three weekly chemo treatment for three months followed by weekly chemo for three months with radiotherapy planned after that. There are so many different drugs types it i hard to be reassured there is not more we can be doing. The oncologist is dismissive when questioned, stating treatment being given is the best to treat mums cancer. I keep reading about new drugs and trials and wonder if anyone has more information or where i can find out more. Mums attitude positive in front of me but she appears to be planning for treatment to not work. She is a realist so this is understandable but can anyone give me an idea as to if the worst happens are we talking months or years? I dont want her to make changes in her life too soon when i believe keeping things as normal as possible to be the best for her state of mind. Any advice or information welcome.
Mums Diagnosis
Hi there, my Mum was diagnosed with TNBC just over 12mths ago, she had a macetomy & then chemo. They didn't give her Radiation treatment as she has a pace maker on the side she had the cancer & they said the risks outweighed the benefits. Mum was 72 when diagnosed & hadn't had a mamogram since turning 70 as she thought she didn't need to as they no longer sent reminder letters. Mum & my family didn't realise that after seventy there is a 1in 3 chance of getting breast cancer - this should be more widely advertised. Mums tumor was large - 3.3 by about 3.5 cm. When I approached my doctor she didn't seem to concerned as it was an "old persons cancer", not necessarily hereditory breast cancer because no one else had been diagnosed in our family from it. My mother has 6 sisters, there are at least 25 girl cousins & no history. There have been alot of deaths from other cancers on my mums side with her Uncles & Aunties, but grandparents all died from old age & heart conditions. At this stage I didn't known it was TNBC. When I questioned my doctor agin she didn't seem to know alot about TNBC & I have also spoken to a local cancer centre who had not heard of TNBC either. I'm one of 5 daughters & I have 2 daughters & girls are very strong in our family so I want to know should we be getting genetic testing as it is TNBC. Mums oncologist advised us to be extra aware as there is now "history". Her daughters have all had mamograms , we range in age from 40-50. Mum has also just been back for her 12 mth mamogram & they have found "something" on her right breast & she will go & have a wire inserted to find the "spot" as its very small & get some results. (does anyone know what this wire procedure is???) Its been six months since she finished chemo & 3 mths since she had her last scan, which were clear. Her cancer marker was slightly raised on her check up in Feb,12 but oncologist was not too worried. So really wondering should us daughters be more concerned about the genetics & has any one had a re-occurance this soon after finishing chemo. I've looked up TNBC & it does sound very frightening, we watched our Dad die a very slow & painful death from Prostrate/Bone cancer & this is not something that you hope another parent or anyone for that matter experiences. Thanks.