Post treatment testing

Survivor_2003

I was diagnosed in 2003 and completed all treatment in 2004. The good news is I've been cancer free since then. A friend was recently diagnosed with TNBC which spurred me to check current info on this ....so much more genetic testing on the tumors seems to be done now vs 2003. I am wondering if tissue may have been retained which could be treated by today's standards? Would I check in with my Oncologist? Or should I consider getting genetic testing to have more info? I chose not to originally.

MinusTwo

good question. I'd like to know the answer too, even though I was HER2+

Moderators

Hi there, Survivor_2003!

That is a very good question! A federal law called CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) does require labs to hold onto specimens for certain periods of time, sometimes 10 years or longer. In many cases, retained tissues are used to determine if a recurrence is related to the primary tumor, or a new cancer. In other cases, retained tissues can be used for new treatments or testing that has become available since the time of diagnosis. It may be worth a call to your oncologist and/or the pathologist and lab who reviewed and processed your original specimens to see if they're still being stored. It may be that too much time has passed, but it's certainly worth finding out!

The Mods