Grade 2, T3 P2 M1???

I have been told I have grade 2 but with T3, P2 and M1. Invasive LC and LCIS. I am having mastectomy and axillary node dissection this saturday and I feel that they are not telling me everything. Does M1 mean it has spread further than they think? Am very confused as i didnt think you could be grade 2 M1????

[bluebutterfly2222]

You may be confuging Grade with Stage.

The grade refers to the how much the cancer cells look like normal cells. Grade 1, also called well-differentiated, look like normal cells and aren't considered aggressive.They grow  slowly and metastesize slowly. Grade 3, also called poorly differentiated, are more likely to grow faster and to metastesize.

The system most often used to describe the  growth and spread of breast cancer is the TNM  Staging System. Information  about the tumor, nearby lymph nodes, and distant organ metasteses is combined, and a stage from I to IV is assigned.

A cancer's Grade along with its Stage is used to determine treatment. Your treatment team will be able to tell you more once the pathology report from Saturday's surgery had come back.

Best wishes...

[madkat1]

I don't know the stage yet just the grade......I am praying they tell me asap after my op as the waiting around is the worst thing.Its bad enough being told at 36 I need a mastectomy and axillary clearance so having to wait for the stage is a real killer!!! I have already been told I am having chemo and radio on chest wall and thats berfore the final results, am not holding out for good news but am being as positive as its possible to be.
Many thanks x x x

[bluebutterfly2222]

The waiting--at every stage of the process--seems to be the most difficult part for most of us. I hope you have family and/or friends to provide emotional support or distraction-- to what ever extent that is possible! :-(

Suddenly learning that you have cancer, AND need a mastectomy, AND need chemo and radiation, is likey to cause a period of shock, followed by anxiety/panic and even dispair. And often, before there has even been time to absorb this information, you are caught up in an overwleming schedule of tests and consultations and treatments. The best advice I have it to try to focus on one step at a time, and remember that there is a whole community here of members who "been there, done that" and who are willing and able to offer  information, helpful tips, and support.

It is good that you are being as positive as possible. The  good news I see so far is that your tumor is not the most aggressive type. Possible additional "good news" would be getting clear margins from your surgery, having limited node involvement,  limited distant metatasis (I take it something has been identified from the M1 designtion you provided?), and an ER/PR/HER2 status that would be reponsive to adjunctive medications...

Please keep us posted on how you are doing. My thoughts and prayers will be with you.

Best wishes...

[madkat1]

hi ...... i have node involvement as am also having complete axillary clearance too, had chest xrays today and more bloods so getting more worried now. It is multi focal with undefined multiple margins and strong staining of invasive tumour nuclei. Extensive LCIS with ILC. Histiolgical M1 so looks like it has metastesised too.... Going in on Sat so will find out more then I suppose.
Keeping positive  
Many thanks xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[katarina777]

That really *****, madcat and I am so sorry you have to deal with all this at your young age. you are right, I think it would have been worse for me having been diagnosed with Bc 10 years earlier.

The chest X-ray is standard procedure before any surgery, so don't worry about that test and why it was done,

You will also get a more complete answer from the pathology they do during the operation.

Last, at least the surgery itself is not very painful at all so as scary as all this sounds, none of the treatments these days, including radiation and chemo, are intolerable but very bearable.

Still, I feel for you, and I don't think you have to worry about having to be positive and all that crap. Just be what you are and as you are, and it makes not difference in my mind. It's also what the newest research claims, that this positive thinking stuff is...crap, or not true.

I wish you all the best, and remember that you will be going through different phases and stages, also with your mood, and all are very normal . You will never be exactly the same as before but that does not mean you will only, or even be worse, no matter if you think positively or not.

With myself, I was surprised at how good I felt emotionally and spiritually, when everyone assumed I should be, or was entitled, to negativity.

The whole thing, from the time of diagnosis, will be totally different than you may have thought previously, and all others feel who have not been through this.

Katrin