Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
Breast Cancer (Expert Forum)
confusing scans
Questions posted in the Breast Cancer Forum are answered by medical professionals from The Cleveland Clinic. Topics include Breast Biopsy, Chemotherapy, Hormone Therapy, Lumps, Lumpectomy, Lymph node dissection, Lymphedema, Mammograms, Mastectomy, Radiation Therapy, Reconstruction, Self Breast Exam, and Surgery.
confusing scans
by omacar, May 02, 2004 12:00AM
mastectony with chemo 1995-1996. Tamoxifen 5 years. markers slowly rising after tamoxifen stopped. In 3 2003 marker to 100. bone and cat negatine. pet showed focus sacral spine ---mri confirmed mets. arimidex was used for 18months then aromasin then faslodex markers still rising. Femara till present marker did come down 32 points and then srarted rising. Had a repeat cat- negative but pet showed a lot of focus in ribs and hip and spine. Radiologist wrote "looks like worsening mets". Onc said all focus are not necessaerily mets and continued femara. I changed onc coz at the time he was where my insurance sent me and it was out of state. I went to a local one now where I could be treated by a team in a familiar hospital if needed. The new onc said he questione if there was mets. He had the hospital radiologist review pet scans mri and bone scans. They were unable to read the pet as it was on a disc not compoatible with the hospital. So I had the cat and pet repeated and they both came out NED. I feel great have never had pain or anything.Is this possible? Marker he did was in 300 range 27-29 the old doc used the 15-30. I don't know what to make of all this. Thank you for your imput. This site has been wonderful for me.Hugs
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-RN,MSN-rf, May 03, 2004 12:00AM
Dear omacar: Tumor markers for breast cancer have traditionally been unrealiable. Many hospitals, including ours, do not use them at all. If all your scans are negative and you are feeling well, I would consider this a good sign and get about living. You can have various scans repeated at intervals that increase over time, assuming they stay negative. Obviously, if you develop symptoms, you should be evaluated sooner. Of course, if you are worried, you can always get another opinion
Member Comments (2)
by omacar, May 04, 2004 12:00AM
The thing that concerns me is that the mets were confirmed by mri a year ago. Should I ask to have the mri repeated or accept the fact that the scans were negative? I am happy they are NED but still have some doubt. The first onc was going to start treatment with xeloda but the new one says he will not treat something that is not evident. Thanks for you imput.
