want to know about treatment for IDC medullary type

I am 37yr old lady. last month mastectomy was done on left breast. invasive ductal carcinoma of medullary type was detected. i want to know that what will be the line of treatment? and chances of survival.the tumor size was 11cm. no lymph nodes were involvrd. ER PR negative.her2/neu negative.epider growth fact recptr negative.

[zouzi]

Hi,
Your pathology report stated that your breast cancer cells tested negative for estrogen receptors (ER-), progesterone receptors (PR-), and HER2-  
Testing negative for all three receptors means you have “triple-negative breast cancer".
Like other forms of breast cancer, triple-negative breast cancer is treated with surgery, radiation therapy,and/or chemotherapy.It's a good thing that there are no lymph nodes involvement,but based on other features of the cancer, such as stage and grade, your doctor/oncologist is the only one to determine the best treatment approach in your particular case.
Some research has shown that hormone-receptor-negative breast cancers, ( which triple-negative breast cancers are) actually respond better to chemotherapy than breast cancers that are hormone-receptor-positive.
If you follow the treatment plan that makes the most sense for your specific situation while doing your best to make healthy lifestyle choices, such as eating a healthy low-fat diet, exercising regularly, and limiting alcohol, you are doing everything you can to treat the cancer successfully.
Survival rates were similar to those of women with breast cancer that was not triple-negative and also it depends how well a person responds to treatments.
Oncologists may vary in their treatment recommendations concerning triple negative breast cancer.You may find it helpful to get a couple of different opinions just to make sure that you are satisfied with the treatments that have been recommended.
Wishing you all the best and good luck...

[zouzi]

I just wanted to add a comment from a member who had triple negative breast cancer and I hope the information will help you more.
                         -------------------------------------------------
BJSaws, Aug 05, 2008 10:42AM
Triple negative breast cancer is just as treatable and curable as other breast cancers.  Triple negative just means two things: 1)your tumor was not fueled by female hormones and 2)you are not a candidate for Herceptin or the anti-hormone treatments such as Tamoxifen, so chemotherapy is your only choice.
     I had triple negative breast cancer and had my surgery almost five years ago.  I completed my chemotherapy 4 1/2 years ago.  I am still cancer-free.
     There are clinical trials going on for treatments for triple negative breast cancers.  I am sure some of these are in the NYC area.  BreastCancer. org recently did an online conference with doctors about triple negative breast cancer.  If you go to their website, you will be able to read the transcript.

[bluebutterfly2222]

Hi and welcome to our community!

zouzi has provided you with some good information about triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), and I am going to add some information about medullary BC.
.
Medullary BC tends to be less likely than the other, more common forms of BC, to spread to the lymph nodes, and has been found to respond well to tx.  The ER/PR/HER2 statuses can vary, just  as with other types of breast cancer, and this is mainly important in terms of the availability of targeted treatments.

Here is the link to a previous thread discussing medullary breast cancer:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Breast-Cancer/medullary-breast-cancer/show/965178


I hope you are able to find a treatment team in whom you have confidence, and that you do  well, as is typically the case with this type of BC.

Best wishes...

[bluebutterfly2222]

p.s. Here is a link to another thread that discusses triple negative medullary BC:


http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Breast-Cancer/normal-treatment-for-3--breast-cancer/show/503780