Re: Off topic -Chuck, Nancie or anyone who knows

[Guest guest]

http://www.breastcancerchoices.org

Gracia

My niece diagnosed w/breast cancer on Xmas Eve. She is 32, never smoked,

doesn't drink, breast fed two babies, is a marathoner and an equestrian.

Never had a mammogram as no family history so she wouldn't be due to have

such exam until age 40. Unfortunately, the lump was big enough that she

found it herself while securing her bra.

I have seen the pathology report and remember enough of it to say that she

is diagnosed with (......this word I don't remember) in situ ductal

carcinoma, Nottingham 2, Apocrine . There are two tumors - one is 4mm ,

the other is 2mm.

So, I've looked up apocrine - which means sweat gland, Nottingham is a

prognosis scale , in situ ductal means milk gland.

My questions are -1.) is Nottingham2 good news or bad? All my googles

only discribe the prognosis method/theory behind the Nottingham scale. I

don't seem to be able to find out what a scale of 2 means. 2.) Does the

apocrine inclusion mean that the in situ ductal has travelled from the milk

glands to the sweat glands - an indication of metastatic breast cancer? Is

the fact that there are two tumors indicative of metastatic breast cancer or

is more than one tumor common with in ductal in situ cancer?

The tumors are underneath the nipple in the right breast only - MRI results

indicate no chest wall tumors or lymph node involvement. Surgeon has been

contact and we are awaiting an appointment. It is possible that I will be

patient advocate for her and I don't understand most of what I'm reading on

the net.

Can anyone make this any c learer , in layman's language, so that I am

prepared if I go with her to surgeon.

Thanks

--

mse

[Guest guest]

Chuck or Nancie or any breast cancer survivor know anything about this?

Gracia - this site u offer is of no use and seems more than an bit

unconventional.

mse

On Sun, Dec 28, 2008 at 4:32 PM, Gracia <circe@...> wrote:

>

> http://www.breastcancerchoices.org

> Gracia

>

> My niece diagnosed w/breast cancer on Xmas Eve. She is 32, never smoked,

> doesn't drink, breast fed two babies, is a marathoner and an equestrian.

> Never had a mammogram as no family history so she wouldn't be due to have

> such exam until age 40. Unfortunately, the lump was big enough that she

> found it herself while securing her bra.

>

> I have seen the pathology report and remember enough of it to say that she

> is diagnosed with (......this word I don't remember) in situ ductal

> carcinoma, Nottingham 2, Apocrine . There are two tumors - one is 4mm ,

> the other is 2mm.

>

> So, I've looked up apocrine - which means sweat gland, Nottingham is a

> prognosis scale , in situ ductal means milk gland.

>

> My questions are -1.) is Nottingham2 good news or bad? All my googles

> only discribe the prognosis method/theory behind the Nottingham scale. I

> don't seem to be able to find out what a scale of 2 means. 2.) Does the

> apocrine inclusion mean that the in situ ductal has travelled from the

> milk

> glands to the sweat glands - an indication of metastatic breast cancer? Is

> the fact that there are two tumors indicative of metastatic breast cancer

> or

> is more than one tumor common with in ductal in situ cancer?

>

> The tumors are underneath the nipple in the right breast only - MRI

> results

> indicate no chest wall tumors or lymph node involvement. Surgeon has been

> contact and we are awaiting an appointment. It is possible that I will be

> patient advocate for her and I don't understand most of what I'm reading

> on

> the net.

>

> Can anyone make this any c learer , in layman's language, so that I am

> prepared if I go with her to surgeon.

>

> Thanks

>

> --

> mse

>

>

[Guest guest]

that's really too bad that you find it of no use! they have phenomenal

success there, they are BC survivors. maybe you could send it on to your niece

anyway?

Gracia

Chuck or Nancie or any breast cancer survivor know anything about this?

Gracia - this site u offer is of no use and seems more than an bit

unconventional.

mse

On Sun, Dec 28, 2008 at 4:32 PM, Gracia <circe@...> wrote:

>

> http://www.breastcancerchoices.org

> Gracia

>

> My niece diagnosed w/breast cancer on Xmas Eve. She is 32, never smoked,

> doesn't drink, breast fed two babies, is a marathoner and an equestrian.

> Never had a mammogram as no family history so she wouldn't be due to have

> such exam until age 40. Unfortunately, the lump was big enough that she

> found it herself while securing her bra.

>

> I have seen the pathology report and remember enough of it to say that she

> is diagnosed with (......this word I don't remember) in situ ductal

> carcinoma, Nottingham 2, Apocrine . There are two tumors - one is 4mm ,

> the other is 2mm.

>

> So, I've looked up apocrine - which means sweat gland, Nottingham is a

> prognosis scale , in situ ductal means milk gland.

>

> My questions are -1.) is Nottingham2 good news or bad? All my googles

> only discribe the prognosis method/theory behind the Nottingham scale. I

> don't seem to be able to find out what a scale of 2 means. 2.) Does the

> apocrine inclusion mean that the in situ ductal has travelled from the

> milk

> glands to the sweat glands - an indication of metastatic breast cancer? Is

> the fact that there are two tumors indicative of metastatic breast cancer

> or

> is more than one tumor common with in ductal in situ cancer?

>

> The tumors are underneath the nipple in the right breast only - MRI

> results

> indicate no chest wall tumors or lymph node involvement. Surgeon has been

> contact and we are awaiting an appointment. It is possible that I will be

> patient advocate for her and I don't understand most of what I'm reading

> on

> the net.

>

> Can anyone make this any c learer , in layman's language, so that I am

> prepared if I go with her to surgeon.

>

> Thanks

>

> --

> mse

>

>

[Guest guest]

MSE,

You wrote:

> Chuck or Nancie or any breast cancer survivor know anything about this?

The Nottingham Index is described here:

http://ccm.ucdavis.edu/bcancercd/311/grading_diagram.html

Chuck

[Guest guest]

Hi Mse-

Ok, first off oncology is not my speciality, so I don't know everything

about cancer. I know the basics. I did spend a lot of time in my oncologist

s office having chemo, myself so I have picked up on a few things, lol. But,

seriously, I had an oncology rotation in grad school so I do know the

principals.

First off the Nottingham Index is one of the cancer staging tools that are

used to stage cancer. It is used in staging barest cancer. The lower the

number the better the news.

we used to belive that only women who ate a high fat diet, who smoke or

drank or had genetics for cancer were the ones who got breast cancer. but,

then linda Mccartney got breast cancer, whi was a vegan, so we had to

re-think our belief systems. we now understand that any woman is at risk for

developing breast cancer. no one is immune. some women are more at risk for

breast cancer than others.

some of the Known risk factors are: family history/ genetics[ men can get

breast cancer and die from it]; using high dose estrogen birth control pills

an elevated estrogen level; smoking; exposure to certain environmentasl

toxins/chemicals; exposure to certain drugs and ironically chemotherapy; an

past use of infertility drugs.. the rest is just a crap shoot.

we still don't really understand why some women get breast ca and they live

a clean lifestyle and then we have women who have all the risk factors, but

don't get cancer. same goes for family risk. I had a woman who all of her

female relatives got breast ca and either died from it or are still alive,

but she had not. she lived her whole life without getting it and she died

from something else. on autospy she still had no sign of breast cancer.

your neice's results show that she has cancer that has not spread, is still

present only in the nipple'aerolar ductal area.

it has invaded a sweat gland which are present in and around the nipple. the

fact that the cancer has not been graded to a 3 or higher is good news and

that it has not spread to the lymph nodes is also very good news. that means

it is not metastatic cancer. that is it has not spread outside of the breast

to other organs.

chest wall cancer or metastatic cancer is harder to treat, so it is very

good news that it is contained in the nipple region.

they will either give her chemo and possible radiation to shrink the tumors

before they do surgery or they will do surgery first, then start chemo and

possibly radiation. that decsision will made by the oncologist and the

surgeon.

natural medicine also works, but you have to be very careful about who you

go to.

the cancer treatment centers of america combine both western and natural

medicine together. they are highly recommended.

here is there link:

http://www.cancercenter.com/

hope that helps.

Nancie

-------Original Message-------

My niece diagnosed w/breast cancer on Xmas Eve. She is 32, never smoked,

doesn't drink, breast fed two babies, is a marathoner and an equestrian.

Never had a mammogram as no family history so she wouldn't be due to have

such exam until age 40. Unfortunately, the lump was big enough that she

found it herself while securing her bra.

I have seen the pathology report and remember enough of it to say that she

is diagnosed with (......this word I don't remember) in situ ductal

carcinoma, Nottingham 2, Apocrine . There are two tumors - one is 4mm ,

the other is 2mm.

So, I've looked up apocrine - which means sweat gland, Nottingham is a

prognosis scale , in situ ductal means milk gland.

My questions are -1.) is Nottingham2 good news or bad? All my googles

only discribe the prognosis method/theory behind the Nottingham scale. I

don't seem to be able to find out what a scale of 2 means. 2.) Does the

apocrine inclusion mean that the in situ ductal has travelled from the milk

glands to the sweat glands - an indication of metastatic breast cancer? Is

the fact that there are two tumors indicative of metastatic breast cancer or

is more than one tumor common with in ductal in situ cancer?

The tumors are underneath the nipple in the right breast only - MRI results

indicate no chest wall tumors or lymph node involvement. Surgeon has been

contact and we are awaiting an appointment. It is possible that I will be

patient advocate for her and I don't understand most of what I'm reading on

the net.

Can anyone make this any c learer , in layman's language, so that I am

prepared if I go with her to surgeon.

Thanks

--

mse

[

..

[Guest guest]

Hi Mse-

Ok, first off oncology is not my speciality, so I don't know everything

about cancer. My speciality is family medicine/primary care. I know the

basics. Of time in my I had a oncology rotations in grad school so I do

know the principals.

First off the Nottingham Index is one of the cancer staging tools that are

used to stage cancer. It is used in staging breast cancer. The lower the

number the better the news.

We used to belive that only women who ate a high fat diet, who smoke or

drank or had genetics for cancer were the ones who got breast cancer. But,

then Mccartney got breast cancer, who was a vegan, so we had to

re-think our belief systems. We now understand that any woman is at risk for

developing breast cancer. No one is immune. Some women are more at risk for

breast cancer than others.

Some of the Known risk factors are: family history/ genetics[ men can get

breast cancer and die from it]; using high dose estrogen birth control pills

an elevated estrogen level; smoking; exposure to certain environmental

toxins/chemicals; exposure to certain drugs and ironically chemotherapy; an

past use of infertility drugs.. The rest is just a crap shoot.

We still don't really understand why some women get breast ca and they live

a clean lifestyle and then we have women who have all the risk factors, but

don't get cancer. Same goes for family risk. I had a woman who all of her

female relatives got breast ca and either died from it or are still alive,

but she had not. She lived her whole life without getting it and she died

from something else. On autopsy she still had no sign of breast cancer.

Your niece's results show that she has cancer that has not spread, is still

present only in the nipple ductal area.

It has invaded a sweat gland which are present in and around the nipple. The

fact that the cancer has not been graded to a 3 or higher is good news and

that it has not spread to the lymph nodes is also very good news. That means

it is not metastatic cancer. That is it has not spread outside of the breast

to other organs.

Chest wall cancer or metastatic cancer is harder to treat, so it is very

good news that it is contained in the nipple region.

They will either give her chemo and possible radiation to shrink the tumors

before they do surgery or they will do surgery first, then start chemo and

possibly radiation. That decision will made by the oncologist and the

surgeon.

Natural medicine also works, but you have to be very careful about who you

go to.

The cancer treatment centers of America combine both western and natural

medicine together. They are highly recommended.

Here is there link:

http://www.cancercenter.com/

hope that helps.

Nancie

-------Original Message-------

My niece diagnosed w/breast cancer on Xmas Eve. She is 32, never smoked,

doesn't drink, breast fed two babies, is a marathoner and an equestrian.

Never had a mammogram as no family history so she wouldn't be due to have

such exam until age 40. Unfortunately, the lump was big enough that she

found it herself while securing her bra.

I have seen the pathology report and remember enough of it to say that she

is diagnosed with (......this word I don't remember) in situ ductal

carcinoma, Nottingham 2, Apocrine . There are two tumors - one is 4mm ,

the other is 2mm.

So, I've looked up apocrine - which means sweat gland, Nottingham is a

prognosis scale , in situ ductal means milk gland.

My questions are -1.) is Nottingham2 good news or bad? All my googles

only discribe the prognosis method/theory behind the Nottingham scale. I

don't seem to be able to find out what a scale of 2 means. 2.) Does the

apocrine inclusion mean that the in situ ductal has travelled from the milk

glands to the sweat glands - an indication of metastatic breast cancer? Is

the fact that there are two tumors indicative of metastatic breast cancer or

is more than one tumor common with in ductal in situ cancer?

The tumors are underneath the nipple in the right breast only - MRI results

indicate no chest wall tumors or lymph node involvement. Surgeon has been

contact and we are awaiting an appointment. It is possible that I will be

patient advocate for her and I don't understand most of what I'm reading on

the net.

Can anyone make this any c learer , in layman's language, so that I am

prepared if I go with her to surgeon.

Thanks

--

mse

[

..

[Guest guest]

Hi Mse-

Ok, first off oncology is not my speciality, so I don't know everything

about cancer. My speciality is family medicine/primary care. I know the

basics. I had a oncology rotations in grad school so I do know the

principals.

First off the Nottingham Index is one of the cancer staging tools that are

used to stage cancer. It is used in staging breast cancer. The lower the

number the better the news.

We used to belive that only women who ate a high fat diet, who smoke or

drank or had genetics for cancer were the ones who got breast cancer. But,

then Mccartney got breast cancer, who was a vegan, so we had to

re-think our belief systems. We now understand that any woman is at risk for

developing breast cancer. No one is immune. Some women are more at risk for

breast cancer than others.

Some of the Known risk factors are: family history/ genetics[ men can get

breast cancer and die from it]; using high dose estrogen birth control pills

an elevated estrogen level; smoking; exposure to certain environmental

toxins/chemicals; exposure to certain drugs and ironically chemotherapy; an

past use of infertility drugs.. The rest is just a crap shoot.

We still don't really understand why some women get breast ca and they live

a clean lifestyle and then we have women who have all the risk factors, but

don't get cancer. Same goes for family risk. I had a woman who all of her

female relatives got breast ca and either died from it or are still alive,

but she had not. She lived her whole life without getting it and she died

from something else. On autopsy she still had no sign of breast cancer.

Your niece's results show that she has cancer that has not spread, is still

present only in the nipple ductal area.

It has invaded a sweat gland which are present in and around the nipple. The

fact that the cancer has not been graded to a 3 or higher is good news and

that it has not spread to the lymph nodes is also very good news. That means

it is not metastatic cancer. That is it has not spread outside of the breast

to other organs.

Chest wall cancer or metastatic cancer is harder to treat, so it is very

good news that it is contained in the nipple region.

They will either give her chemo and possible radiation to shrink the tumors

before they do surgery or they will do surgery first, then start chemo and

possibly radiation. That decision will made by the oncologist and the

surgeon.

Natural medicine also works, but you have to be very careful about who you

go to.

The cancer treatment centers of America combine both western and natural

medicine together. They are highly recommended.

Here is there link:

http://www.cancercenter.com/

hope that helps.

Nancie

-------Original Message-------

My niece diagnosed w/breast cancer on Xmas Eve. She is 32, never smoked,

doesn't drink, breast fed two babies, is a marathoner and an equestrian.

Never had a mammogram as no family history so she wouldn't be due to have

such exam until age 40. Unfortunately, the lump was big enough that she

found it herself while securing her bra.

I have seen the pathology report and remember enough of it to say that she

is diagnosed with (......this word I don't remember) in situ ductal

carcinoma, Nottingham 2, Apocrine . There are two tumors - one is 4mm ,

the other is 2mm.

So, I've looked up apocrine - which means sweat gland, Nottingham is a

prognosis scale , in situ ductal means milk gland.

My questions are -1.) is Nottingham2 good news or bad? All my googles

only discribe the prognosis method/theory behind the Nottingham scale. I

don't seem to be able to find out what a scale of 2 means. 2.) Does the

apocrine inclusion mean that the in situ ductal has travelled from the milk

glands to the sweat glands - an indication of metastatic breast cancer? Is

the fact that there are two tumors indicative of metastatic breast cancer or

is more than one tumor common with in ductal in situ cancer?

The tumors are underneath the nipple in the right breast only - MRI results

indicate no chest wall tumors or lymph node involvement. Surgeon has been

contact and we are awaiting an appointment. It is possible that I will be

patient advocate for her and I don't understand most of what I'm reading on

the net.

Can anyone make this any c learer , in layman's language, so that I am

prepared if I go with her to surgeon.

Thanks

--

mse

[

..

[Guest guest]

Tks to Nancie, and Chuck. I want to help my niece as best I can and

all info has been valuable. This is a terrible time.

One note of caution to women.... She is blood tested " normal " on estrogen

levels, but she was using an IUD birth control method which feeds

Progesterone to body 24/7 to prevent pregnancy. Mirena I think it called.

She tested high for progesterone. Tumors are being tested for progesterone

and estrogen dependence.

mse

On Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 7:34 PM, Nancie Barnett <

deifspirit@...> wrote:

> Hi Mse-

> Ok, first off oncology is not my speciality, so I don't know everything

> about cancer. My speciality is family medicine/primary care. I know the

> basics. I had a oncology rotations in grad school so I do know the

> principals.

> First off the Nottingham Index is one of the cancer staging tools that are

> used to stage cancer. It is used in staging breast cancer. The lower the

> number the better the news.

>

>

> We used to belive that only women who ate a high fat diet, who smoke or

> drank or had genetics for cancer were the ones who got breast cancer. But,

> then Mccartney got breast cancer, who was a vegan, so we had to

> re-think our belief systems. We now understand that any woman is at risk

> for

> developing breast cancer. No one is immune. Some women are more at risk for

> breast cancer than others.

> Some of the Known risk factors are: family history/ genetics[ men can get

> breast cancer and die from it]; using high dose estrogen birth control

> pills

> an elevated estrogen level; smoking; exposure to certain environmental

> toxins/chemicals; exposure to certain drugs and ironically chemotherapy; an

> past use of infertility drugs.. The rest is just a crap shoot.

> We still don't really understand why some women get breast ca and they live

> a clean lifestyle and then we have women who have all the risk factors, but

> don't get cancer. Same goes for family risk. I had a woman who all of her

> female relatives got breast ca and either died from it or are still alive,

> but she had not. She lived her whole life without getting it and she died

> from something else. On autopsy she still had no sign of breast cancer.

>

>

>

> Your niece's results show that she has cancer that has not spread, is

> still

> present only in the nipple ductal area.

> It has invaded a sweat gland which are present in and around the nipple.

> The

> fact that the cancer has not been graded to a 3 or higher is good news and

> that it has not spread to the lymph nodes is also very good news. That

> means

> it is not metastatic cancer. That is it has not spread outside of the

> breast

> to other organs.

> Chest wall cancer or metastatic cancer is harder to treat, so it is very

> good news that it is contained in the nipple region.

> They will either give her chemo and possible radiation to shrink the tumors

> before they do surgery or they will do surgery first, then start chemo and

> possibly radiation. That decision will made by the oncologist and the

> surgeon.

> Natural medicine also works, but you have to be very careful about who you

> go to.

> The cancer treatment centers of America combine both western and natural

> medicine together. They are highly recommended.

> Here is there link:

> http://www.cancercenter.com/

>

> hope that helps.

> Nancie

> -------Original Message-------

>

>

>

> My niece diagnosed w/breast cancer on Xmas Eve. She is 32, never smoked,

> doesn't drink, breast fed two babies, is a marathoner and an equestrian.

> Never had a mammogram as no family history so she wouldn't be due to have

> such exam until age 40. Unfortunately, the lump was big enough that she

> found it herself while securing her bra.

>

> I have seen the pathology report and remember enough of it to say that she

> is diagnosed with (......this word I don't remember) in situ ductal

> carcinoma, Nottingham 2, Apocrine . There are two tumors - one is 4mm ,

> the other is 2mm.

>

> So, I've looked up apocrine - which means sweat gland, Nottingham is a

> prognosis scale , in situ ductal means milk gland.

>

> My questions are -1.) is Nottingham2 good news or bad? All my googles

> only discribe the prognosis method/theory behind the Nottingham scale. I

> don't seem to be able to find out what a scale of 2 means. 2.) Does the

> apocrine inclusion mean that the in situ ductal has travelled from the milk

> glands to the sweat glands - an indication of metastatic breast cancer? Is

> the fact that there are two tumors indicative of metastatic breast cancer

> or

> is more than one tumor common with in ductal in situ cancer?

>

> The tumors are underneath the nipple in the right breast only - MRI results

> indicate no chest wall tumors or lymph node involvement. Surgeon has been

> contact and we are awaiting an appointment. It is possible that I will be

> patient advocate for her and I don't understand most of what I'm reading on

> the net.

>

> Can anyone make this any c learer , in layman's language, so that I am

> prepared if I go with her to surgeon.

>

> Thanks

>

> --

> mse

>

> [

>

> .

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Yes, I forgot to include that. Scary, huh? The cancer is evolving.

You are very welcome.

Hugs,

Nancie

-------Original Message-------

Tks to Nancie, and Chuck. I want to help my niece as best I can and

all info has been valuable. This is a terrible time.

One note of caution to women.... She is blood tested " normal " on estrogen

levels, but she was using an IUD birth control method which feeds

Progesterone to body 24/7 to prevent pregnancy. Mirena I think it called.

She tested high for progesterone. Tumors are being tested for progesterone

and estrogen dependence.

mse

>

>

..