oncotype test results

Tmb173- I think the decision to do chemo is the hardest. I scored a 16 and am still contemplating chemo. In fact I am supposed to start tomorrow but I am still ambivalent! I would suggest getting more opinions although I find that it sometimes complicates things more. I have four opinions so far and it's basically all over the place. Someone who has been thru cancer herself told me something that helps "there is really no wrong decision and there is really no right decision either"! Good luck! I know it's not easy!



Jsrose

Good luck to those who are still undecided... I hope you will find the answer that will give you peace of mind. Im halway through chemo, i will be getting my 3rd cycle tom... 3 out of 4... Its doable, not a walk in the park but manageable.... God bless us all 🙏

Jehgrammy05 ... I can totally relate how you feel, we have the same score of 20... The most dreaded intermediate range. I opted for chemo, it was not an easy decision... Theres no right or wrong answer for us since the trial for the intermediate range is still ongoing. Its a matter of a decision that will make you sleep and gives you peace of mind... I will have my last cycle of chemo this may 29... Its not a walk in the park but very doable... There are a lot of other factors why i opted for chemo, my age, i had two tumors, my tumor grade... Dont hesitate to ask ur oncologist some questions and you might want to consider a second opinion... Good luck to you and i pray you will come up to a strong decision... God bless, keep fighting. It takes a lot of strength and courage and faith in dealing with our situation but i believe GOD wont give us anything we cant handle... Hugsss

Thank you misshopeful. I took your advice and called my Oncologist. I just came back from the meeting. It was the best meeting I have ever had. Someone had scanned the wrong results into my records and the hard copy of my results came in just before our meeting. It turns out the error was in my favor. I am only a 12 so no Chemo, only Radiation. I feel for the women who the results belong to. I just could not make what the doctor was talking about match up to my pathology reports and I was so confused. Thank GOD I had a copy of both of them to look through.

Awesome jeh...wow how close you came. Good thing you were paying attention to your report. BTW RADS are not bad - at least they werent for me. I had 33 treatments. They take no time at all. I had a bit of burning and fatigue halfway through but other than that nothing major. The long term effects could be a problem like lung scarring and my bc was in my left breast right over the heart. Not buying trouble though. So far, so good. Diane

My onco came back 10; very low risk.  I was stage 1, grade 1,HER2-, PR/ER+, 1cc, lumpectomy (in my late 50s).  Doc does not recommend chemo, but recommends radiation.  I read that those falling in the low risk category (<18 score) have a low recurrence risk and benefits of radiation (and chemo) likely to be small and will outweight the risks of the side effects.  So, this means I don't need radiaton??  Doc is recommending it.   It's my left breast and I have family history of heart disease and I have osteoporosis; so the side effects of radiation scare me; not sure if I should do radiation now with the good onco results.  Such a dilema.....

BCdeb, The oncotype test measures your risk for a distant recurrence and the relative benefit of chemotherapy. That does not mean you should forgo radiation.  Radiation is a treatment to prevent a local recurrence...either a recurrence of cancer in the breast or a new primary tumor in the breast.   When I was making my treatment decisions and decided to have a lumpectomy, I did so with the understanding that I would be getting whole breast radiation treatments.  That comes with a lumpectomy and your surgeon should have advised you about that.   Even though my cancer was on the right side, I was still concerned about possible damage to my organs, ribs, etc.  It is not possible to completely avoid exposure...but it can be minimized.  In my opinion, you should meet with a radiologist and get more information on how they would conduct your treatments to avoid unnecessary exposure.  You should also get clear information on how radiation reduces your risk of another breast cancer before you decide to forgo it.  I ended up having my radiation in the prone (face down) position and was able to minimize exposure to my lungs and ribs.  I was fortunate to have a radiologist who listened to my concerns.

Good luck with your decision.

MsP