Oncotype DX Roll Call!

I haven't posted here recently, however, the treatment I had was:

Right lumpectomy with SNB,  followed by 10 Taxotere, Carboplatin and Herceptin dose dense,  35 rads,  1 year Herceptin every 3 weeks. 

Just had my semiannual labs and a chest xray in preparation for my onc appt next Monday.  Hoping all is well...he mentioned back in July that he would do a CT scan and bone scan this time, so guess that will be next.

I don't know my recurrence percentage, since the score was 47, we just know it is high, so I assume, according to your chart 31-32%.   Wow.  Never thought of it that way!

Love to all,

Hi Moody,  First of all I want to say you are such a sweetheart!  Not only for keeping this thread going, but all the positive thoughts and advice you put out there!  God is working through you girl!  I had a Right Mx & SNB.  Four rounds of TC.  I am currently on tamoxifen and am in the bisphosphonate clinical trial (chlodronate arm). 

I know what you mean for wanting to keep everything even, but I saw 3 different surgeons and none of them wanted to take my healthy breast.  In the meantime I had passed my 6 month follow up breast mri in Nov.  So far, so good!

JustSaying- My oncotype score was 19 and my oncologist quoted me about a 2% benefit, as did my "second opinion" oncologist.

Just Saying---I did quite a bit of research on chemo, and as far as I could tell TC was one of the likeliest combinations to work for lobular, which is resistant to adriamycin in many (though not all) cases. Adriamycin seems to work best on the more aggressive tumors--HER2+ for example. Yours and mine, like most lobular, are HER2-.

Since your goal is long-range survival, a 4% absolute benefit may seem worthwhile, though it has to be weighed against the unpleasant side effects of chemo. Most people seem to tolerate TC very well and find that it isn;t as bad as they expect, but individual tolerances for any regimen vary. I think you have to consider carefully what you might be getting into before deciding on any bc treatment.

But that's just my disposition. If Moody has a passion for balance and symmetry, I have a passion for economy. I hate the thought of wasted motion, of doing more than nenessary to accomplish a goal, and that makes me conservative about medical decisions. The thought of doing chemo for no benfit, which is what the node positiiive graph suggested I could expect, obviously didn't appeal to me. though I might have tried it for a 4% gain. My preference for economy is also partlly why I opted for a lumpectomy, in spite of the fact that it can be difficult to achieve with lobular. Besides, my mother had to live with the results of a mastectomy for 38  years, and I knew that I wanted to avoid a similar experience if possible.

Moody--I did do a lot of reading after I was diagnosed, because bc can be a life-and-death matter, and I've had enough experience in more trivial instances to know that doctors are not infallible. Just the unpleasant experience I had with the core needle biopsy was enough to convince me that this time I'd better watch out for myself as never before. Reading was also a way of reassuring myself that I was doing something productive, though a lot of it didn't apply directly to my situation.

If I know of a piece of information that might help someone else make a decision, I pass it on, because I've benefited from the information other posters have shared, and also from other posters' responses to my posts, which caused me to clarify my thinking.  It's good to pass the good will on, as you are doing with this thread.

Hi!
Just got my oncotype results.........local 9 distant 6.

Lorraine ox

seabee, not sure, onc just called today and I expected just one number and he gave me those two, I was suprised also! I am having him fax over the report so I can see it all.

Lorraine

Moody,

Yes, I had a RM, SNB, LMP(failed), tumor1.2( ILC)

Moody you are doing a great service to all of us..This board has gotten me thru a lot.

Thanks and many hugs to all the ladies out there.

Francine

Crusader-- CMF is the cocktail that the Oncotype scores were based on.  I don't know how effective it is for ILC. Most chemo attacks fast-growing cells, and ILC tends to be slower growing, so it is not as responsive. TC, which works somewhat differently,*may* be effective for ILC (which is mostly resistant to AC--glad no one is urging that on you). TC seems to be increasingly prescribed and is mostly well tolerated, so if you are going to do chemo it is the one I decided was most likely to benefit me--until my Oncotype score came back low risk. This is not a recommendation, but if my score had been 27 instead of 16, I would have tried TCx4.  

A speedy recovery to your little girl also. You have added so much to this board...

Oh, MoodyK13... thank you so much for your update.  I will indeed pray for your daughter, you, your family AND your doctors.