chemo or not?

judimac

I know this isn't a new topic but I can't find the posts on it. I met with my oncologist yesterday and he said I am in a gray area for chemo. Even though I had one positive lymph node he is having the Oncotype test done for more information. It may give me a score in the middle, also. What to do?

Leia

If I had your diagnosis, I would not do the chemo. 

danigirlx1

judimac,

my oncotype test put me right on the cusp of needing or not needing chemo. It was recommended to do it because my tumor size was 2.5 and upon further dissection there was a small micro amount in the first node.  There is a study coming out in 2015 that is probably going to say people like you and i do not receive enough benefit from chemo but that remains to be seen.  I chose instead to do an alternative low dose chemo. which you can read about at the end of the naturalgirls thread. If you are open to the information out there with:  herbs, diet and supplements and probably a Naturopathic doctor guiding you, I would say you could skip the chemo.  Especially high dose chemo because that will be a lot of devastation for a mild decrease in risk.

 good luck

thegoodfight

I had what is still considered a low onco score...........17 and yet in the end I went ahead with chemo.  I weighed the options and because it was still not definitive I decided to err on the side of caution.  I did not want to ever say, if only if................................

I am surprised with node involvement that you are not leaning toward chemo.  Wait for your onco results, but IMHO if your score does not come in very, very low, I would seriously consider chemo. 

rubytuesday

I also had micromets in my SN.  My oncologist had already sent in my Oncotype before he knew about the SN.  My score came back LOW anyhow (11).  My oncologist was fine with me skipping chemo.  Everything I had read, didn't support trashing my immune system for a very small gain (if any from chemo).  Good luck with a difficult decision.  BTW, nodes can become positive from surgery and from the Sentinel Node procedure (massage of tumor/tumor bed to move the dye, also can move cancer cells).  Best wishes

4bethann

I found the decision to be extremely difficult. Negative SN, ER+, but the oncotype came back exactly midrange. Onc said I could gain a 2-3% (possibly as much as 5% but doubtful) with chemo. My heart doc said for 2-5 % improvment, he did not reco chemo. I opted out, and faithfully take the Femara, which offered the best stats for me. Onc told me to keep my immune system in good shape, which will help. However if I had a positive SN, I would have had to rethink the matter more fully.

Wishing you the very best.