I am sorry to hear about you recent diagnosis and hope you know more soon about what needs to happen next.
Usually enlarged lymph nodes are checked for during a breast assessment and following this once a diagnosis of breast cancer is made they will also check the sentinel lymph node ( lymph nearest to the tumour) during surgery. If the sentinel nodes are negative then it is unlikely the axillary nodes will be affected.
Wishing you all the best going forward but do get back if you need to or have more questions. Our helpline is also open mon-fri 9-5 if you would rather call us.
Thank you Naomi. What I was trying to find out is if it's not in the lymphatic tubes or blood vessels of the breast biospy diagnosis, how likely is there to be cancer in the nodes or is it possible to have cancer in the nodes? I have one swollen node but it is not confirmed yet.
Hello Sugar-Plum and thanks for getting back to us,
I think you are asking about lymphovascular invasion (LVI) which is when cancer cells are seen in the small lymphatic and blood vessels around the cancer. You are wondering if LVI status can predict whether cancer has gone to the armpit lymph nodes. I don't think it can for sure, but from what I have read it seems that LVI positivity is associated with a greater likelihood of positive sentinal nodes, so presumably the opposite is true and LVI negativity is associated with a greater likelihood of negative sentinal nodes. But it isn't a rule of thumb and biopsy results are needed to establish whether or not there is cancer in the armpit nodes.
I hope this make sense. Get back to us if you need to and don't forget you can call us on Freephone 0808 800 4040, the lines are open from 9-5, weekdays.
