Breast Cancer Death Sentence - Is This True

Patients think that a diagnosis of breast cancer is a death sentence and are wondering ?Am I going to survive this?? In this video, Dr. Harness explains that breast cancer is a huge galaxy of diseases and describes the best approach so the patient will not be overwhelmed.

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Jay K. Harness, MD FACS: Often patients think that a diagnosis of breast cancer is a death sentence and I can see it in their eyes and the words come out ?Am I going to survive this?? As I have shared before, breast cancer is a huge galaxy of diseases. Multiple different kinds of diseases, from the earliest in situ or small invasive cancers way up to much more aggressive and frankly very-very dangerous cancers.

So, let me give you an example of a common sort of result from a core biopsy. Patient has a lump in the breast; hopefully the people working them up ordered a core biopsy. Core biopsy comes back intermediate grade invasive ductal carcinoma, very-very common, it is probably be the most common that I see. Remember now, there are three grades ? low grade, intermediate grade, and high grade, so an intermediate grade invasive ductal carcinoma is a very-very common diagnosis, and then often the core biopsy will pick up some of the surrounding in situ breast cancer.

Remember the cancer has to originate inside the ductal system first as an in situ breast cancer and then grows out through the wall of the ducts and invades the surrounding tissue and becomes invasive at that point. So, often the core biopsy results, let us say as an example surrounding intermediate or high grade in situ breast cancer and poor patients come in with these reports in their hands that the primary care doctor has given them just like a deer on the headlights, they came ?Oh my gosh, am I going to die, am I going to survive? Is it serious?? You know, and all the questions that come with it.

So as you have heard me say multiple-multiple times, this is why this is a multidisciplinary team approach. This is why we need to figure out all of the subtleties of a particular breast cancer and then obviously maximize the contemporary treatments, as we understand them today, knowing full well that the future of these treatments are going to get better and they are going to change.

I often had patients coming in already who has been on the internet all over the internet looking up the survival of stage I breast cancer, stage III breast cancer, things of that sort. There are some real important I got to remind you that some of those numbers whether it is, you know, 90 something percent five year for stage I down to may be, I do not know, 65% for stage III, those are historical numbers, those who are looking backwards at what happened to people treated years ago with the therapies that we understood them then. And yes, the higher the stage of the cancer, there is going to be lower survivability but remember we are talking about incremental decreases here, and we are also talking about getting way down the road here for new things to come along.

My colleague Dr. David Margileth will be also talking in the future here about what he sees coming in the future of breast cancer treatment, how we hope to convert a lot of breast cancers into chronic diseases and I have talked about this before when it comes, as an example, to stage IV disease.

So, what is the wrap up from this? Do not be overwhelmed by this complicated reports; be in the hands of a multidisciplinary team; make sure that you are getting the State of the Art Care as we understand it today, so that you can and will survive and we want you long ways down that road, so in case anything should come back, we got new cool stuff to treat you with in the future.

Dr. Jay K. Harness is a board certified surgeon currently treating patients at St. Joesph Hospital in Orange, CA. Dr. Harness specializes in complete breast health, breast cancer surgery, oncoplastic reconstruction, genetic screening, management of breast health issues, risk assessment and counseling. Dr. Harness is the medical director for Breast Cancer Answers.com, and guides this first ever social media show?s information by drawing on his former leadership experience as the President of the American Society of Breast Surgeons and Breast Surgery International. Dr. Harness graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1969 and spent time early on in his career at the University of Michigan Medical Center.

This information should not be relied upon as a substitute for personal medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Use the information provided on this site solely at your own risk. ?If you have any concerns about your health, please consult with a physician.

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