PET CT Scan Report

[porus]

I am 29yrs old female.not sx earlier with fnac in nov'08 and in feb'08. dx with metastatic breast cancer.biggest tumor of size 52cmx 43 cm.agrees with core biopsy.The pet ct scan said'no significant lymph node involvement'.3 axilliary and mammary and pulmonary nodes were detected with sizes from 1 cm to 1.3 cm.But the report said 'extensive metastasis'.
1.What does this mean?
Also tested triple negative for ER,PR and HER Neu.
2.Can the tumor be metatstatic and grow fast even if All three receptors are negative?
3.After two cycles of chemo with cyclophosphamide, docetaxal and doxorubicin, th etumor has shrinked to less than 1 cm size. Is the treatment effective?

[porus]

Yes 52 mm sorry.they are nodules!What I meant was if a 5.2 cm tumor can shrink to 1 cm, can the 'metastasized' nodules exist?hope not.Thanks for replying.

[japdip]

You can't possibly have meant 52cm in size ... that would be about 20 inches. Perhaps the nodes you mention were nodules, hence the "metastatic" diagnosis. Tumors that are ER/PR negative are the more aggressive types of tumors as they do not need the hormones in order to grow. The hormone dependant tumors are much less aggressve in nature. AS TO whether treatment has been effective can't really be determined at this point. There surely will be some type of surgery to remove the cancerous tumor and then additional treatment following the surgery. Kindest regards ...