Phyllodes Tumor

I do not know whether to laugh or to cry when the doctor mentions that my breast lump is likely to be a phyllodes tumor.

Good news is that phyllodes tumor is very unlikely to be cancerous.  Bad news is that phyllodes tumor can grow very big, and has a very high recurrent rate.

About a month ago, I felt the lump.

It was a very hard lump.

I knew immediately that this was a hard solid mass, unlikely to be a normal cyst.

When I went for my first consultation with the general practitioner, she estimated the lump size as 6 cm.

She was puzzled as to why I discovered it so late.  I was very puzzled too.

It seemed impossible to have something growing in the breast, and I got to know about it when it was so huge.

At the first consultation with the specialist in the hospital, the specialist implied that I was not very alert to the growth.

That may be true, but with hindsight, it is impossible to uncover phyllodes tumor at early stage.

The specialist arranged for a breast ultrasound.

After a breast ultrasound that comes back with inconclusive result, the doctor recommends a breast biopsy.

The only confirmed fact is that this lump is a hard solid mass.

After the inconclusive result, a trucut needle breast biopsy was done.

That was the time when the specialist doctor knew just how hard this lump was.

The trucut needle breast biopsy was supposed to make three passes to collect enough samples for analysis.

I ended up with six passes.

The specialist doctor had a hard time poking the needle into the lump.  The lump was so hard that the needle could not go through.

The result of the trucut needle breast biopsy diagnoses it as cellular fibro epithelial proliferation, cannot exclude phyllodes tumor.

There is very limited information about phyllodes tumor available in the Web.

The only information that all articles about phyllodes tumor agree is:

1.  This is a fast growing mass.  It can grow to a big size in a matter of weeks.

2.  This is a tumor of an adult woman, more commonly in women from age 40 to 50.

3.  This is a very rare occurrence, less than 1% of all breast lumps.

4.  This lump grows in the connective tissue of the breast.

5.  If a single cell is left behind, the phyllodes tumor will grow.  That is why surgical removal is needed, not just to remove the lump, but all surrounding tissues.

6.  Phyllodes tumor is unlikely to be cancerous.  If it is cancerous, the cancer cells do not respond well to chemotherapy, hormone therapy or radiotherapy.

Well, I certainly do not like the idea of having a surgery every year to remove the lump.  It sounds so awful.

The problem is that phyllodes tumor is so rare that nobody really knows the causes of it.

Nobody can really pinpoint the risk factors, other than citing family history as one of the main factors.

Hopefully this is the first and only time for me!

I certainly do not welcome a recurrence.  Hopefully the coming surgery will remove every single cell.