› Forums › General Melanoma Community › Husband/father of 5. Understanding FISH test results!
- This topic has 15 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 11 months ago by
_Paul_.
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- May 21, 2015 at 1:39 am
My husband,father of 5 young boys, had a few “annoying” moles removed about 2 weeks ago.
The Dr. Sent the moles to Mayo clinic and today called us into the office to hear the results.
Mayo did a FISH test and im not fully understanding these terms.
Obviously, my heart and head are in a whirlwind and ive been trying to gather as much info as possible.
All moles came back normal except for one on his lower back. It came back positive for malignant melanoma.
Here is what mayo sent back
Malignant Melanoma,type unclassified,is identified forming a polypoid mass in the dermis without definitive emanation from the overlying epidermis.
The tumor is invasive to clark level IV, Breslow depth 3.1mm, nonulcerated.
Radial growth phase is absent. Vertical growth phase is present (epithelioid cell type). Focal vascular invasion is identified.
Mitotic rate is 1/mm2. Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes are absent.
No regression or microscopic satellites are identified.
The tumor extends to 1.5mm of the peripheral margin.
HMB45 is positive in the lesion cells. Ki67 shows foci of increased proliferative activity.Interpretation:
The results are abnormal. Increased copies of RREB1(80%), decreased MYB:CEN6 ratio (74%), increased copies of CCND1(72%), increased copies of MYC(40%), increased MYC:CEN8 ratio(14%) and loss of both copies of CDKN2A(50%) were identified.My husband is 41 yrs old, father of 5 boys (ages 7-16!). Very active. Never had any signs of being sick or something being wrong….
Im in a panic…..im scared for him.
Our normal family dr. Doesnt have experience in this department so he wasny of much help in explaining. He did set us up for a full body ct scan for this friday and a surgeon appointment for tues.
Can anyone help me process these numbers and what it all means….thank you 🙁
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- May 22, 2015 at 2:48 am
I'm sorry for your husband's discovery. I'm not the most qualified to answer your questions but I see this has been on the board for 24 hours so I wanted to you some information to go by. Hopefully others will chime in soon.
I wasn't familar with the term "FISH" test either but apparently it's a test where they check the genetic mateiral in a person's cells. It stands for Fluorescence in situ hybridization Test.
I hate to say this but your husband's melanoma is pretty worrisome. "Generally" the deeper the melanoma the more at risk a person is for possible melanoma in the future. All melanoma is serious but anything over 1.0 mm thick is deemed a little more serious. Doesn't mean he's destined to have a recurrence. More than likely the odds are still in his favor he won't have any melanoma in his future but it is definitely a wake up call.
I'm glad the CT scan is scheduled. That is definitely the first step. A couple other things that will probably be in his future is a SNB (Sentinel Node Biopsy) and a WLE (Wide Local Excision). The WLE is the surgery where they will cut around where they found the melanoma to get a wide margin. They'll then test that margin to make sure there is no melanoma in it. You'll want to get the SNB before the WLE. I would definitely request the SNB. It's not always done but should be. What they do in the SNB is they inject dye at the site of the mole and see which lymph node the dye drains to. They then will remove that node and biopsy it to see if melanoma cells are present. The CTscan won't catch melanoma cells. It only can see larger tumors so that's why the SNB is sometimes useful. If no melanoma is present in the sentinel node and the CT scans are clear then he will probably just have regular dermatolgy visits for the rest of his life. If that's not the case then there's a lot of things to consider. We'll just leave it at that for now.
The good news is there is so much hope out there for melanoma patients where just a few years ago there really wasn't much.
Try to stay calm as best you can. I know it's not easy. Please keep us updated and don't hesitate to ask more questions if you have them.
Brian
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- May 22, 2015 at 2:48 am
I'm sorry for your husband's discovery. I'm not the most qualified to answer your questions but I see this has been on the board for 24 hours so I wanted to you some information to go by. Hopefully others will chime in soon.
I wasn't familar with the term "FISH" test either but apparently it's a test where they check the genetic mateiral in a person's cells. It stands for Fluorescence in situ hybridization Test.
I hate to say this but your husband's melanoma is pretty worrisome. "Generally" the deeper the melanoma the more at risk a person is for possible melanoma in the future. All melanoma is serious but anything over 1.0 mm thick is deemed a little more serious. Doesn't mean he's destined to have a recurrence. More than likely the odds are still in his favor he won't have any melanoma in his future but it is definitely a wake up call.
I'm glad the CT scan is scheduled. That is definitely the first step. A couple other things that will probably be in his future is a SNB (Sentinel Node Biopsy) and a WLE (Wide Local Excision). The WLE is the surgery where they will cut around where they found the melanoma to get a wide margin. They'll then test that margin to make sure there is no melanoma in it. You'll want to get the SNB before the WLE. I would definitely request the SNB. It's not always done but should be. What they do in the SNB is they inject dye at the site of the mole and see which lymph node the dye drains to. They then will remove that node and biopsy it to see if melanoma cells are present. The CTscan won't catch melanoma cells. It only can see larger tumors so that's why the SNB is sometimes useful. If no melanoma is present in the sentinel node and the CT scans are clear then he will probably just have regular dermatolgy visits for the rest of his life. If that's not the case then there's a lot of things to consider. We'll just leave it at that for now.
The good news is there is so much hope out there for melanoma patients where just a few years ago there really wasn't much.
Try to stay calm as best you can. I know it's not easy. Please keep us updated and don't hesitate to ask more questions if you have them.
Brian
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- May 22, 2015 at 2:48 am
I'm sorry for your husband's discovery. I'm not the most qualified to answer your questions but I see this has been on the board for 24 hours so I wanted to you some information to go by. Hopefully others will chime in soon.
I wasn't familar with the term "FISH" test either but apparently it's a test where they check the genetic mateiral in a person's cells. It stands for Fluorescence in situ hybridization Test.
I hate to say this but your husband's melanoma is pretty worrisome. "Generally" the deeper the melanoma the more at risk a person is for possible melanoma in the future. All melanoma is serious but anything over 1.0 mm thick is deemed a little more serious. Doesn't mean he's destined to have a recurrence. More than likely the odds are still in his favor he won't have any melanoma in his future but it is definitely a wake up call.
I'm glad the CT scan is scheduled. That is definitely the first step. A couple other things that will probably be in his future is a SNB (Sentinel Node Biopsy) and a WLE (Wide Local Excision). The WLE is the surgery where they will cut around where they found the melanoma to get a wide margin. They'll then test that margin to make sure there is no melanoma in it. You'll want to get the SNB before the WLE. I would definitely request the SNB. It's not always done but should be. What they do in the SNB is they inject dye at the site of the mole and see which lymph node the dye drains to. They then will remove that node and biopsy it to see if melanoma cells are present. The CTscan won't catch melanoma cells. It only can see larger tumors so that's why the SNB is sometimes useful. If no melanoma is present in the sentinel node and the CT scans are clear then he will probably just have regular dermatolgy visits for the rest of his life. If that's not the case then there's a lot of things to consider. We'll just leave it at that for now.
The good news is there is so much hope out there for melanoma patients where just a few years ago there really wasn't much.
Try to stay calm as best you can. I know it's not easy. Please keep us updated and don't hesitate to ask more questions if you have them.
Brian
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- May 22, 2015 at 8:06 pm
My husband was diagnosed with melanoma in late March and I understand your concern, panic…all of the above. We too have young children and a very active lifestyle. I am on this forum for my husband and to learn what we can do to stay ahead of melanoma. My advice is seek out care from a melanoma specialist and quick. I can't stress that enough. Use this forum to search for answers and be careful what you read on the internet. It can be downright terrifying. Be aggressive with your husband's diagnosis and ask questions. I've found the folks on this forum are forthcoming, supportive, and are here to help in any way we can. If you have any questions just ask and never settle for an answer until you are comfortable you have all the information. There is a lot of help and assistance out there for your family right now and a lot of hope. Never forget that – melanoma is NOT a death sentence.
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- May 22, 2015 at 8:06 pm
My husband was diagnosed with melanoma in late March and I understand your concern, panic…all of the above. We too have young children and a very active lifestyle. I am on this forum for my husband and to learn what we can do to stay ahead of melanoma. My advice is seek out care from a melanoma specialist and quick. I can't stress that enough. Use this forum to search for answers and be careful what you read on the internet. It can be downright terrifying. Be aggressive with your husband's diagnosis and ask questions. I've found the folks on this forum are forthcoming, supportive, and are here to help in any way we can. If you have any questions just ask and never settle for an answer until you are comfortable you have all the information. There is a lot of help and assistance out there for your family right now and a lot of hope. Never forget that – melanoma is NOT a death sentence.
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- May 22, 2015 at 8:06 pm
My husband was diagnosed with melanoma in late March and I understand your concern, panic…all of the above. We too have young children and a very active lifestyle. I am on this forum for my husband and to learn what we can do to stay ahead of melanoma. My advice is seek out care from a melanoma specialist and quick. I can't stress that enough. Use this forum to search for answers and be careful what you read on the internet. It can be downright terrifying. Be aggressive with your husband's diagnosis and ask questions. I've found the folks on this forum are forthcoming, supportive, and are here to help in any way we can. If you have any questions just ask and never settle for an answer until you are comfortable you have all the information. There is a lot of help and assistance out there for your family right now and a lot of hope. Never forget that – melanoma is NOT a death sentence.
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- June 4, 2015 at 2:56 pm
Thank you all for your input and support. It is greatly appreciated. Things have moved so fast for us, which is a good thing!
My husband had wide margins removed from the primary spot which came back negative. He also had 9 nodes removed and 8 came back negative and 1 came back suspicious and was sent on to mayo. We live 2 hours away from our doctor and just spoke to him on the phone. Im not sure what suspicious means and he seems held back on telling us. We go to see him on monday so whatever he isnt telling us now, will probably come out in person.
I cant help but worry…..i also have anxiety so this just increases that!
If his nodes come back positive i think our next option will be looking into Mayo clinic in MN.
I just wanted to give an update! Thanks again and i hope all of you are well today!-
- June 5, 2015 at 12:33 pm
Hopefully the suspicious node will come back negative as well. But even if it did come back positive, that would put your husband at stage 3, but also NED: No Evident Disease, since all the known cancer has been removed. There are lots of people here on this board that have been that way for years.
So please try not to worry too much. Your husband has not been delivered a death sentence.
Is the Doctor that your are travelling 2 hours to see a melanoma specialist? That is very important.
Hoping for the best for you – Paul.
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- June 5, 2015 at 12:33 pm
Hopefully the suspicious node will come back negative as well. But even if it did come back positive, that would put your husband at stage 3, but also NED: No Evident Disease, since all the known cancer has been removed. There are lots of people here on this board that have been that way for years.
So please try not to worry too much. Your husband has not been delivered a death sentence.
Is the Doctor that your are travelling 2 hours to see a melanoma specialist? That is very important.
Hoping for the best for you – Paul.
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- June 5, 2015 at 12:33 pm
Hopefully the suspicious node will come back negative as well. But even if it did come back positive, that would put your husband at stage 3, but also NED: No Evident Disease, since all the known cancer has been removed. There are lots of people here on this board that have been that way for years.
So please try not to worry too much. Your husband has not been delivered a death sentence.
Is the Doctor that your are travelling 2 hours to see a melanoma specialist? That is very important.
Hoping for the best for you – Paul.
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- June 4, 2015 at 2:56 pm
Thank you all for your input and support. It is greatly appreciated. Things have moved so fast for us, which is a good thing!
My husband had wide margins removed from the primary spot which came back negative. He also had 9 nodes removed and 8 came back negative and 1 came back suspicious and was sent on to mayo. We live 2 hours away from our doctor and just spoke to him on the phone. Im not sure what suspicious means and he seems held back on telling us. We go to see him on monday so whatever he isnt telling us now, will probably come out in person.
I cant help but worry…..i also have anxiety so this just increases that!
If his nodes come back positive i think our next option will be looking into Mayo clinic in MN.
I just wanted to give an update! Thanks again and i hope all of you are well today! -
- June 4, 2015 at 2:56 pm
Thank you all for your input and support. It is greatly appreciated. Things have moved so fast for us, which is a good thing!
My husband had wide margins removed from the primary spot which came back negative. He also had 9 nodes removed and 8 came back negative and 1 came back suspicious and was sent on to mayo. We live 2 hours away from our doctor and just spoke to him on the phone. Im not sure what suspicious means and he seems held back on telling us. We go to see him on monday so whatever he isnt telling us now, will probably come out in person.
I cant help but worry…..i also have anxiety so this just increases that!
If his nodes come back positive i think our next option will be looking into Mayo clinic in MN.
I just wanted to give an update! Thanks again and i hope all of you are well today!
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Tagged: cutaneous melanoma
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