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My sister was told that having a breast-conserving lumpectomy would be just as effective as a mastectomy, so she had the lumpectomy for the 2.3cm tumor, clear margins, no positive lymph nodes. She wasn't even done with chemo when she found two local recurrences 6 months after the lumpectomy, which then, of course, mandated a mastectomy. Her oncologist said a recurrence that soon while still on the strongest chemo was very unusual. She started Herceptin soon after the mastectomy, had radiation to the site of the mastectomy, and 5 months after completing radiation she was diagnosed with brain mets. I can't help but wonder - if she'd had a mastectomy initially instead of a lumpectomy, and if Herceptin had been available then for earlier stage bc - if the cancer might have been fully arrested.
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