What happens if a lymph node biopsy is positive?
A positive result means there are cancer cells in the sentinel nodes. This means the cancer has started to spread. Your doctor will talk to you about further treatment. You'll also have scans to see if the cancer has spread anywhere else.
Is lymph node-positive breast cancer curable?
If the cancer has spread to regional lymph nodes, cure is still the goal, but a proportion of women with node-positive cancer will also have subclinical metastatic disease that may or may not be cured by surgery and systemic chemotherapy.
Can breast cancer that has spread to lymph nodes be cured?
Breast cancer that has spread to lymph nodes may be treated more aggressively than if it hadn't reached these nodes. The 5-year survival rate for breast cancer that hasn't reached nearby lymph nodes is 99 percent versus 86 percent when it has.
What is the prognosis for breast cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes?
If the cancer has spread to the regional lymph nodes, the 5-year survival rate is 86%. If the cancer has spread to a distant part of the body, the 5-year survival rate is 29%. The survival rate for breast cancer is 10% lower in Black women compared to White women.
Do you need chemo if cancer is in lymph nodes?
Larger cancers and higher grade cancers are more likely to recur and are more likely to benefit from chemotherapy. Lymph node status. If your breast cancer has spread to your lymph nodes, your doctor may recommend chemotherapy.
What stage is breast cancer if it is in the lymph nodes?
Stage 2 breast cancer means that the cancer is either in the breast or in the nearby lymph nodes or both. It is an early stage breast cancer.
What does it mean if lymph nodes are positive for cancer?
When cancer cells appear in a person's lymph nodes, it means cells have broken away from the original tumor and traveled via the lymph vessels to a lymph node. The presence of cancer cells inside a lymph node indicates that the cancer is spreading.
Is cancer in the lymph nodes terminal?
When cancer cells break away from a tumor, they can travel to other areas through either the bloodstream or the lymph system. If they travel through the lymph system, the cancer cells may end up in lymph nodes. Most of the escaped cancer cells die or are killed before they can start growing somewhere else.
How long do you live when cancer spreads to lymph nodes?
A patient with widespread metastasis or with metastasis to the lymph nodes has a life expectancy of less than six weeks. A patient with metastasis to the brain has a more variable life expectancy (one to 16 months) depending on the number and location of lesions and the specifics of treatment.
Can you cure cancer in lymph nodes?
Treatment for cancer in the lymph nodes Surgery may be used to treat some forms of metastatic cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes. Other treatment options for cancer in the lymph nodes may include chemotherapy, radiation therapy, a stem cell transplant, immunotherapy or targeted therapy.
Is breast cancer in lymph nodes considered metastatic?
The lymph nodes under your arm, inside your breast, and near your collarbone are among the first places breast cancer spreads. It's “metastatic” if it spreads beyond these small glands to other parts of your body.
Is it better to be ER PR positive or negative?
Tumors that are ER/PR-positive are much more likely to respond to hormone therapy than tumors that are ER/PR-negative. You may have hormone therapy after surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation are finished. These treatments can help prevent a return of the disease by blocking the effects of estrogen.