"Fatty Tumor" Confused by path report

Patty F · 06-22-2008, 06:15 PM

May 29th I had another surgery. I had found a lump and they decided to remove it. Surgeon said right after surgery that it was a fatty tumor and that is was nothing to worry about. I felt good about that. : )
I received my path report that said......Fibroadipose tissue with rare focus of angiolymphatic tumor permeation, (please see comment).
Comment: The slides demonstrate fibroadipose tissue with a rare focus of angiolymphatic tumor embolization. The patients history of breast carcinoma with nodal metestasis and lymphovascular invasion is noted. The findings are compatible with involvement by this process.

Does this mean that they are still finding cancer in the vascular or lymphs?

I have been through 4 A/C and 12 Taxol/Herceptin treatments. Why would I still have cancer in these areas after all this treatment? Does this make for a poorer prognosis for me?

chrisy · 06-23-2008, 03:39 PM

I do not know the answers to your questions, but if this was my path report my first step would be to ASK my doctor what this means, every word of it. A lot of times these path reports just sound so scary and in the end actually mean nothing - that is, nothing BAD. Too bad they just can't say it in plain English.

Ask your doctor.

jones7676 · 06-23-2008, 07:58 PM

I second Chrisy's comments. I'd have them go through the report line by line and pencil in comments or take notes. It could be just that the chemo affected the appearance of the cells or something. Biology is very complicated.....good luck on your deciphering mission.

Becky · 06-23-2008, 08:25 PM

This sounds like what had been lymphovascular invasion and it happened to occur within an area that became a fatty tumor.

If you had positive nodes then you had to have had lymphatic/vascular invasion (as the cancer had to get from the tumor to the node somehow). The only thing you have to ask your onc is - Is it a dead remnant? I would think it is after chemo (and rads I would suppose as fatty tumors are a common result of rads).

Is this the only area - did the fatty tumor form around the area and actually do you a great favor by confining this area?

I personally don't think you have anything to worry about here and that it is a fluke of a find and many of us lumpectomy gals have these dead things in us.

Keep us posted. I am curious as to what your onc will say. Call him tomorrow so you don't have to think about this any longer than that. Smile as much as you can because it does make you feel better.