Mets to jaw?
 

Hi all,
I am wondering if any of you have experience with mets to the jaw? I have had a random pain in my left jaw for about 2 months now. Mentioned to onc and wondered if it was from Zometa. He said no, but to get a panaelipse x-ray. My family dentist reviewed it and did not see any evidence of osteonecrosis, but she wanted an oral surgeon to review it. I met with her yesterday and she did not see osteonecrosis, but she asked about the pain and said that an x-ray would not show mets unless it was quit advanced. She then asked if my lip gets numb, and it does. She said maybe a PET scan would show if it was mets. She also detailed where the met would normally be and how it would act.
So, I meet with onc. on Tues. and will ask what he thinks I should do.
Any advice or suggestions is greatly appreciated!
Stay well all,
Emelie

Re: Mets to jaw?
 

Emilie
I too would think dental...if it was mets to the jaw bone itself, it would show on a bone scan. More likely it could be the parotid gland being inflamed, a lymph node, or even sinuses...then there is always the teeth grindging scenario....wise to get it checked, but it is probably not cancer related....sending good thoughts~~

Re: Mets to jaw?
 

I'm with Sheila. OK, the jaw is a bone but there are so many dental issues that can cause jaw pain...that have nothing to do with canser. And anything that causes pain (a nerve!) can potentially cause numbness as well. Of course we all know I'm not a doctor, but I must confess I am ALSO not a dentist.

Try not to worry, you need to get more info.

Re: Mets to jaw?
 

"Of course we all know I'm not a doctor, but I must confess I am ALSO not a dentist." Thanks for the outloud laugh on that line.
Emilie, I have no experience with mets to the jaw - except to say I have never heard of it in 15 years so that says it's unlikely to be jaw mets. Gosh, I never even thought to worry about such things - do have random tooth pain and also noticed my big toe is numb. Not even making a joke, just realizing that we sure contend with a lot of fear and uncertainty.

Re: Mets to jaw?
 

Emelie,

I'm sorry for your suffering. This breast cancer business is just no fun at all.

Through PubMed, I found several articles (abstracts) about the issue. The explanation of the side effect from bc treatment makes sense to me. But we can never be too careful. Hope the abstract below will calm your nerves a little bit...

Gan To Kagaku Ryoho. 2010 Sep;37(9):1791-3.
[A case of bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaw in a patient with bone metastasis of breast cancer].

[Article in Japanese]
Iimura Y, Kaneko H, Hasegawa N, Takahashi Y, Shoji Y, Kawabata M.
Source

Dept. of Surgery, Kushiro City General Hospital, Japan.

Abstract

A 5 6-year-old woman underwent modified radical mastectomy for left breast cancer in 2002. Bone metastases developed in November 2005, and she received pamidronate from February 2006. Pamidronate was changed to zoledronate in November 2006. In November 2007, she was referred to a dentist for pain and swelling of the right lower gum. Conservative therapy with local irrigation and antibiotics was performed, but the lesion progressed and showed ulceration with exposed bone. She was diagnosed as bisphosphonate-associated osteonecrosis of the jaws, and zoledronate was withdrawn in January 2008. Conservative therapy was continued but the necrotic lesion caused pathological fracture and fistula. In February 2009, surgical intervention was performed for the improvement of her QOL.

Re: Mets to jaw?
 

I also would never have thought of mets to the jaw, and think this is a dental problem! I dont think bc mets usually travel to the jaw anyway???

Re: Mets to jaw?
 

I have had jaw issues. Cracking. Sometimes pain. Had a pressured sort of feeling. All has boiled down to dental/tmj sort of thing. Grinding teeth at night.And general falling apart! As said before, just because we had cancer does not mean that we dont get unrelated ailments that scare us!
Keep the faith. And try not to worry until given a concrete reason to do so

Re: Mets to jaw?
 

I've had jaw problems. Lots of them. Pain, sores, the lot. Turned out to be food-intolerance related.

Just saying it could be anything. They are trying to exclude jaw mets, I should think. But they are very, very rare.

Hope they find out it's something fixable.

Jacqueline

Re: Mets to jaw?
 

Thank you ladies for your time and input. I will talk to onc. and see what he thinks. I sooo don't want to deal with this, as I am living the good life of NED right now and enjoying every freaking moment of it.
I will let you all know what he comes up with. In the mean time going to see Billy Elliot on Thurs. with my beautiful daughter who is leaving for law school in early Fall.
Take care all and once again, thank your for taking the time to calm my nerves and fears.
Emelie

Re: Mets to jaw?
 

Hoping for nothing serious Emile, enjoy the show and please keep us posted!