Feel free to skip this post, it's the rather boring, technical stuff.
Apparently I have a 18x18x12mm Grade 3 invasive ductal adenocarcinoma which sounds awfully scary especially when all the terminology is so new. The leaflets Cathie has given me were produced by Breast Cancer Care so they are factual, accurate and more importantly non sensationalist whereas Dr Google is full of terrifying and false info.
So I can understand what the diagnosis means in my case.
Grade 3 - the cells look abnormal and may grow or spread more aggressively.
Invasive - its moved out of the milk duct and has the ability to spread around the body (important I keep reminding myself "ability to" doesn't mean it has).
The size of the tumour in relation to my boob size hopefully means I'll be suitable for less invasive surgery.
The ultrasound of the armpit (axilla) was normal so fingers crossed nothing has spread to my lymph nodes.
ER+ 8 and PR+ 6 - most breast cancers (approx 80%) are known to be hormone receptive (ie they receive signals from Estrogen and Progesterone which may encourage growth) and mine are, which as far as I can ascertain is good as it means I can be given Hormone Therapy which will block the signals.
HER2 Awaited - HER2 (hormone epidermal growth factor receptor 2) can increase the rate at which a cancer grows/spreads and also recurs. In about 25% of breast cancers this is positive - my results on this are still outstanding 😕
All of these things are relevant when it comes to deciding the best post surgery treatment.
ER+ 8 and PR+ 6 - most breast cancers (approx 80%) are known to be hormone receptive (ie they receive signals from Estrogen and Progesterone which may encourage growth) and mine are, which as far as I can ascertain is good as it means I can be given Hormone Therapy which will block the signals.
HER2 Awaited - HER2 (hormone epidermal growth factor receptor 2) can increase the rate at which a cancer grows/spreads and also recurs. In about 25% of breast cancers this is positive - my results on this are still outstanding 😕
All of these things are relevant when it comes to deciding the best post surgery treatment.
