Invasive mucinous carcinoma, high oncotype dx score

nottoday

Dear all,

I am perplexed by my diagnosis of invasive mucinous carcinoma, which seems to carry a favorable prognosis and for which chemotherapy after surgery is not recommended, and my high oncotype DX score of 39, which makes chemotherapy essential. I am ER+, PR+ (though weakly so) and HER2-. Has anyone else had this discrepancy, or any thoughts about how to reconcile the conflicting data?

Moderators

Hi nottoday,

We're sorry to hear of your diagnosis!

While you wait for the helpful posts from other members, we wanted to point you to the main Breastcancer.org site's section on Mucinous Carcinoma of the Breast for information about treatment and follow up for this type of breast cancer.

We hope this helps!

--The Mods

Shirlyn

Hi there!

So did u go through chemo in de end? I'm in the same situation as u but waiting for my onco type dx resulrs

Meow13

Yes, similar but my pr was 0% and er 95%, her2-, two 1 cm tumors stage 1, grade 1 and 2. Oncodx 34, but I did AI drugs no chemo. Even though chemo recommended.

BadLuck

They told me that chemo does not treat this rare form of breast cancer & especially if it's 100% pure. I had a huge tumor 3.6 cm, only stage 1B, Grade 1, ER/PR +, Her2- I opted for a lumpectomy & had to have 16 days whole breast radiation. Not sure what oncotype means. I don't believe they ever mentioned that in my pathology report

voraciousreader

bad luck. OncotypeDX is a genetic test done on early stage Er+ HER2 - tumors. You are a candidate for the test. Speak to your surgeon and insurance company. The test will give you a score. That score will tell you your chance of recurrence in the next decade and whether or not chemo will be of benefit.

With respect to chemo not working for mucinous tumors....that is not correct. While the Oncotype DX test is not as strongly validated for mucinous tumors, for some, with high scores, it MIGHT be beneficial. I would recommend asking for the test and then having a university medical center's tumor board review.your case. Many hospitals have tumor board meetings to discuss special cases.

Furthermore, you can register at the nccn's website and read the breast cancer treatment guidelines. Specifically, read the page concerning tubular and mucinous breast cancers. With mucinous breast cancers, the guidelines are different from the more traditional breast cancers. Since mucinous is USUALLY considered a more favorable breast cancer, the bar is usually set higher for the use of chemo. Also, Grade 1 tumors often don't respond well to chemo. That is why the oncotype DX test might help give you more definitive info

voraciousreader

bad luck...i see you had your surgery last June. I think you are outside of the period of time where chemo would be considered.

Speak to your team about having the BCI genetic test when you reach the 5 year mark. That genetic test will tell you if you need to continue hormone therapy beyond 5 years

BadLuck

thanks so much for the info - hopefully my insurance will cover the test. Ill see if my oncologist knows anything about this & if she thinks I should be tested