Resolved question:
I have become worried that with my lobular breast cancer, I am going to get brain cancer. A doctor at Stanford told me that lobular often goes to the brain lining.
The reason I am worried is that I know the AI's can't get to brain mets because of the brain/blood barrier.
I have an ALLRED of 8--but my cancer wasn't diagnosed for 5 years. Do you think the cancer already had a chance to get to my brain. Should I be feeling symptoms by now.
Anything you can tell me to reassure me, that it is not very likely for me to get brain cancer would help.
Thank you.
Submitted:
4 Days
Category:
Oncologist
Unless there are symptoms, you need not worry about cance spreading to any other organ. ALLRED 8 is great and is supposed to have excellent prognosis. There are lots of hormonal agents to treat ER positive breast cancer.
I am sure, you ll do fine. Please be reassured.
Happy to help.
regards
--
Dr.E.Prasad, M.B.B.S., D.M.R.T., M.D., D.M (Onco)
Thank you. Do you mean that if there aren't symptoms NOW, they are not likely to show up ever because of the AI's?
As I said, I just worry that if the cancer had already spread to the brain before I started the AI's, then they wouldn't help because of the blood/brain barrier.
So, I'm not sure if you are saying that if I were going to get brain cancer, that I would either have symptoms NOW or the AI's will prevent it from even going there in the future?
No. Generally any spread to brain will produce symptoms. AIs are very effective in controlling systemic spread.
So be assured of your good outcome
Regards.
Thank you again. Would micromets show symptoms? If not, how long do you think a slow growing lobular cancer would be able to remain micro mets in the brain, and therefore show no symptoms?
Hello,
The time period is difficult to calculate. But generally lobular cancer being responsive to AIs, it is believed to show better response.
Regards
But my whole worry is that because of the blood/brain barrier, the AI's cannot get to micromets in the brain. I can see that if there were no mets in the brain when I started taking the AI's, that then hopefully, the AI's would work to keep the cancer from moving to the brain. My worry is that I already had micromets in the brain 7 months ago, when I started the AI's, and that there is no way for the AI's to get to them. I have no symptoms now. I guess the question is would micromets have progressed in 7 months to a point where symptoms would show--even if it is slow lobular micromets?
Hello,
In that case, you would definitely have symptoms of brain mets. If you do not have symptoms, it means you do not have brain mets.
An apprehension I am afraid has no remedy.
Hope this helps.