What is it?
I saw Carol's cancer surgeon (from nine yrs ago) at the hospital today. She was having some fluid drained from her abdomen and he stopped by to say hi to her. He is the one who wanted the liver biopsy when Carol's recurrence was discovered because she had had lobular carcinoma. HE said usually when it recurs, it recurs in the breast, and that's why she had a double mastectomy at the time.
Since it recurred in the bone and liver, he had a hunch it was not the same cancer, and thus the liver biopsy. It gets strange here, because as of now, the pathology says the recurrence is breast cancer, but not lobular, ductile. So, I guess this is a new cancer and not a recurrence of the other. I really don't understand it, and neither does he. He said several labs have attempted to identify the specimens, and they had not come up with a definitive answer, as far as he knew, but he is not her oncologist. Her Onc said it was definitely breast cancer, but what type? That matters because more treatment options are available if it is HER2+, as opposed to a triple negative (estrogen, progesteron, and HER2). The triple negative, which occurs in only 10-15% of patients, cannot be treated with hormone drugs such as Herceptin. So if it turns out to be HER2 positive, Herceptin might be an option. Right now, it's just Taxol being used, and it has brought her liver numbers back to normal (well, most of them), which is a sign it is shrinking the lesions.
She was having stabbing pains that she said went from front to back just below her diaphram before the chemo Tuesday, but they have since subsided, so I guess that, too, is a sign it is doing some good. They drained off over three liters of ascites this morning, and that has got to be some relief!
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