Mind games about oncotype

PurpleCat

My oncotype was 12, so chemo wouldn't add enough benefit to make the side effects worthwhile. No one wants chemo, so that's great news, right?

Or is it? If chemo won't help me, doesn't that essentially mean a treatment proven to be effective for many is useless for in my situation? How is that good news? Does "You won't benefit from chemo" mean "Your tumor was relatively innocuous?" Or does it mean "Your tumor is going to recur no matter what we do, so we're not going to put you through chemo. You're a hopeless case." Sort of like a viral infection, where they say "If this were bacterial we could treat it with antibiotics and it will be gone in 48 hours, but it's unfortunately not, so there's nothing we can do but wait to see whether or not you recover." In that case I'd probably prefer the antibiotics, even with the side effects.

The mind games I play with myself after the sun goes down ... but seriously, is a low oncotype a good thing in the long term or not?

pupmom

The way it was explained to me (Oncotype 14) was that chemo was more likely to kill me than cancer. That's pretty convincing.

PurpleCat

Thanks - it helps to hear it put that way.

pupmom

You're welcome Purple Cat. It takes awhile to get used to all this cancer stuff. Best wishes!

Peregrinelady

Purple Cat, my score was also 12 and my oncologist didn’t even discuss chemo even though I had micromets in one lymph node. I sought 3 different opinions on radiation and they all said the risks were not worth the benefits. I don’t look at it as a negative. It just means that they are looking more at each person’s biology and realizing that chemo isn’t the best choice for all. My main treatment is the hormone therapy as my cancer was 100% estrogen driven. That is why I plan on being on it for as long as possible.

Marymc86

I would have jumped for joy with a low Oncotype score. And I expected a low one and so did my doctors. It came out being 27. I have been depressed ever since. Be happy you didn't have to decide if the ?% reduction in chance of recurrence was worth the risks of chemo. I skipped it. I'm glad I did, at this point anyway. I was feeling happy until I learned my score.

Marymc86

One more note because I don't think my post was encouraging. I'm sorry, still feeling some anger.

My MO told me antihormonals are as good as chemo. That is a quote from her.