skin mets

[Cathy]

Last October I noticed what appeared to be a rash on my left breast where I had had the bc tumor. It was no where near my lumpectomy scar--just an innocent looking rash consisting of several red spots which did not itch on the upper front of my breast. I just sort of ignored it but, luckily I had a regularly scheduled appmt with my onc and my rad. onc on the same day about two wks after the appearance of the rash. They both told me I had to get a biopsy and, sure enough, the spot which was biopsyed was malig. Up to that point I had never even heard of mets to the skin so was shocked at this turn of events. A PET scan showed that it had spread to 2 lymph nodes behind my breast bone and another 1 under my right arm but nowhere else for the time being. Am hoping that it will stay that way for a long time. Am taking herceptin/Taxotere once a week. There appears to be a slight improvement but am scheduled for another PET scan in two weeks. Good luck to you. Would be interested in knowing what your ONC has in mind for your treatment!! So, if you have a chance, let me know.

[Jackie]

Sorry this is late, but since my experience is a little different I thought I would post. I initially developed skin mets on the opposite side of my chest from my mastectomy scar. They were funny little red bumps and my onc ordered a biopsy right away for confirmation. They have popped up on the back of my head, back of my neck and under my arm on the unaffected side. Thus, they do not need to be located on or close to the mastectomy scar. They do not itch or bother me in any way except in having to look at them and feel them. Chemo seems to make them flatten out and lose some of the redness, but unfortunately they do not seem to go away completely. I have some large ones (1/4 in) but most are smaller. The ones on my neck don't seem to be red, while the ones elsewhere are. When progression occurred with navelbine in Jan 04, I started getting new bumps. They are now flattening out, but I wish they would go away! Hope this helps. Good luck to you!