Tuesday, March 8, 2011

is there allot of damage to breast tissue after radiation for breast cancer

is there allot of damage to breast tissue after radiation for breast cancer?
Had a mammogram on breast that had breast cancer.They say they see a spot of 1 cm on bottom of same breast.I do self breast exams weekly and do not feel a lump. Was told it could be damage to tissue due to surgery and radiation. Has anyone had this problem? When doing radiation had burn on spot that is in question at the moment.
Cancer - 3 Answers
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1 :
The treatment of breast cancer is a radical mastectomy and post surgery irradiation and chemotherapy as required depending on the type and stage of the cancer. Thus early specific confirmation of the cancer is most important to save life. Hence you may please confirm the cancer, the type of it and the line of treatment to be undertaken to get a cure etc., from your Oncologist at the earliest; as there are a lot of recent advances in the field of breast cancer for early diagnosis and a cure!
2 :
Radiation causes major damage to all tissue that it comes in contact with. It is possible that this is what they are seeing, but to be safe, I would go ahead and let them biopsy it if they are wanting to.
3 :
Hello, I'm afraid I don't agree with Chandra. It is a big over-simplification, if not actually outright false, to say that every breast cancer needs radical mastectomy. 'Lumpectomy' - - removal of the lump, is a perfectly respectable and well-accepted treatment for the right cases. There is no 'one size fits all' treatment. Lumps on mammograms often have special 'features' that help the doctor decide whether it is a cancer or not, - - for example, cancers tend to have irregular or 'sprouting' borders or edges. This is as true for this new lump, and it was for your first cancerous lump. I don't see any reason to doubt the doctors' opinion that this new lump may well be scarring inside the breast. I hope this is of some help. Best wishes, Belliger (retired uk gp

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