Jessie J shared the bombshell news that she has breast cancer on Instagram on Tuesday, telling fans that it was caught “early” but she planned to “disappear for a bit” while she recovers from surgery.
“I’m highlighting the word ‘early.’ Cancer sucks in any form, but I’m holding onto the word early. I have been in and out of tests throughout this whole period,” she said.
What exactly is the “Price Tag” singer in for? A specialist spoke to The Post about what patient can expect when they’re diagnosed with stage 0 or stage 1 breast cancer.
What are stage 0 and stage 1 breast cancer?
Stage 0 cancer means there are abnormal cells that look like cancer cells — but they haven’t spread beyond where they originated. In breast cancer, that means they’re just inside the milk duct.
“A stage 0 diagnosis only means that the cancer is contained inside the milk duct, but sometimes it can extend over a large portion of the breast,” Dr. Cindy Cen, a breast surgical oncologist at the Northwell Health Cancer Institute, told The Post.
Stage 1, meanwhile, is the earliest stage of “invasive” breast cancer, meaning it has spread. It’s still early stage, though, because the spreading is limited to the surrounding area or lymph nodes in a small area.
How breast cancer is confirmed
After some sort of screening — whether that be a mammogram, sonogram or MRI — breast cancer is confirmed with a needle biopsy.
“That needle biopsy provides us information on where the cancer originates from — either the breast duct or the lobule — and testing on the tissue can tell us what the tumor marker profile is,” Cen explained.
This will then help determine the treatment plan.
How is early breast cancer treated?
“Surgery is usually the first step, particularly for early-stage cancers,” Cen went on. “The results from surgery will confirm size, lymph node involvement and ultimately staging.”
The operation will decide which stage of cancer it is.
There are two main surgical options:
- Lumpectomy: Also called a partial mastectomy, this involves removing just the cancerous portion of the breast.
- Mastectomy: This removes the entire breast and may be done on one or both sides.
“Mastectomies can be done for stage 0 or 1 depending on the extent of disease and/or patient preference,” Cen said.
“A nipple-sparing approach can be done depending on the patient’s anatomy and where the cancer is located in the breast.”
“A mastectomy would be the best option to remove a large portion of the breast rather than a lumpectomy.”
Do people with early stage breast cancer need chemo or radiation?
“Chemotherapy would never be offered for stage 0, but potentially for a stage 1 depending on the cancer tumor markers or other risk factors,” Cen said, noting that would be determined after surgery.
“If chemotherapy is offered, this usually follows surgery, and then radiation is after.
“Radiation is offered depending on the kind of surgery that was performed. If the patient had a lumpectomy, radiation is required to protect the remaining breast. If the patient undergoes a mastectomy, radiation is only required in certain situations, usually when cancers are more advanced.”
On Instagram, Jessie J shared that she would be able to keep her “nipples,” so it sounds like her experience is in keeping with the typical course of action in early-stage cancer.
“Also not getting massive tits. Or am I? No no… I must stop joking,” she wrote.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
