Genetics test before surgery?

arlva24

Hi all,

Thanks so much to everyone on here for all the guidance that you have provided to me. I was diagnosed with 0.7 cm IDC, ER+, PR+, HER2- on November 23. I had my first appointment on December 2 and the doctor said that she did not want to operate until she receives my genetic testing results. I had the blood test immediately, but apparently the test is run through Myriad's labs and could take as long as 3 weeks for results. Did anyone else have to go through this process? I'm really anxious for surgery so wanted to check with others. And I also found it a little odd - I can't rule out the possibility of BRCA1/2, but I have no female relatives on either side of the family tree with breast cancer.

I would really appreciate everyone's thoughts.

peggysmom

Hi! Sorry about your diagnosis, but it's so great you're on the ball and you've got a treatment plan. Genetics testing generally takes 3 weeks. Those 3 weeks felt like months for me, so totally understand how you're feeling. Depending on your results, it may change the surgical options (i.e. lumpectomy vs. mastectomy and prophylactic mastectomy on the other breast). Try to think of it as the more information you have, the better informed your decision will be, maybe that will help with the wait. Let your doc know how you're feeling and hang in there!!!

moth

I didn't wait. I had my lumpectomy and then had genetic testing. We figured we could always go back and do a mastectomy later if that became a recommendation following the genetic tests.

Beesie

arlva, from what I've seen over many years on this site, I'd say that on average the wait time between diagnosis and surgery is about 5-6 weeks. Sometimes it's faster but sometimes it's slower. So even waiting for the genetic results, your surgery likely will fall within that window, or not much beyond.

To all of us, a diagnosis of breast cancer feels like an emergency. We want the cancer out right away. But to our doctors, except in rare cases, breast cancer is not a medical emergency - most breast cancers are slow growing and a few weeks won't change the diagnosis or prognosis. In your case, you have what preliminarily appears to be a small cancer with a favorable pathology, being ER+, HER2- and grade 1. And you are 38 - which is young for a breast cancer diagnosis. Women with genetic mutations do tend to be diagnosed younger, which is why your surgeon is concerned that you may have a genetic mutation and wants to wait for this information. As peggysmom said, the results might change your choice of surgery.

A suggestion. Is your surgeon willing to schedule your surgery now for a date that falls sometime after she expects to have the genetic results? If you are already on the surgery schedule, there would be no additional delay once the results are in. You could plan for the lumpectomy, if that is your preference, and if the genetic results cause you to rethink that, then you move to Plan B. But at least Plan A would be on the books. Maybe not possible, but worth asking about.

hnsquared

ariva24....so sorry you have to be here with us. My surgeon also wanted to do genetic testing. I did it through myriad also and it was back in less than 3 weeks. They test for a multitude of mutations besides just BRCA. I was considering a lumpectomy...least drastic alternative but found out I have a PALB2 genetic mutation. I wasn’t expecting to hear that. It did influence my decision to get a bilateral mastectomy. I know people say you can always have another surgery after you find out the results if you want to do something different and that is true. I was happy we got all the information and I could make a decision with that information.

Good luck. This is the hard part when you are still gathering information.

2019whatayear

I had genetic testing before surgery too. The test takes 2-3 weeks but I had to wait to get an MRI to see if there were any other spots on my breasts and that has to be done at a certain time btwn periods anyway - so it wound up my results came back a couple days before the MRI was scheduled anyway. The results were positive for BRCA 2 so it was what I needed to make my treatment decision

LivinLife

My surgeon would've had me wait too. I chose BMX though so it wasn't going to matter either way....