Oncotype Dx Test Anyone?

Warrior Woman - I would cut and paste your last sentence, but it doesn't work on the Macbooks yet.  But how perfect you said that as I've been wrestling with my high Oncotype score, yet  medicore report of ER while having my IHC of ER test out at 95%.  Of course!!  If the effectiveness of Tamoxifen was measured using IHC, then IHC should be the indicator for effectiveness.  You made my day.

farmerlucy-I grew 2 wimpy tumors(that we know of). One on each side. Both were grade 1. One was only seen on MRI. That was the one with the positive nodes. What I came to accept after talking to my team & other potential team members, is that some low grade tumors can learn to travel(wimpy but smart). My smart, wimpy, tumor came back with an onco score of "4". Despite the fact that it learned to travel, it is unlikely that chemo would help my situation .The Genomic Health graph I received has me more likely to die if I did chemo(in the margin of error).

Tumor grade probably has nothing to do with imaging(MRI,US,Mamo). They all look alike. That's where pathology & genomics comes in.

When I hear on women getting a second BC diagnosis soon after the 1st, I wonder if it was there all along & was missed.

My pathology report only mentions the 2 tumors identified prior to BMX. Both had clips in them. I'm not sure if my breasts were diced & sliced looking for add'l tumors. Maybe I had 3 tumors? Another wimp? probably not wise to call my tumors wimps, might come back to haunt me

Hi ladies, 

This is my first post on this thread but I have been reading everyone's posts and soaking up all the info. After waiting nearly one month I finally received my Oncotype score from my BS today - I have a score of 69!! I am not sure what the implications are but this definitely changes my treatment plan .  I was hoping to dodge radiation with a low score. I am now  seriously considering DMx.  Would appreciate any advice - thanks in advance!

maito

It has been the longest five weeks of my life!!!  I had surgery on December 3.  I have Stage 1A Grade 2 breast cancer.  They weren't able to submit my tumor to Oncotype DX testing until December 14th because of Medicare rules.  Because of the holidays, my oncologist appointment was made for January 13th.  I've been sitting and stewing for the past five weeks waiting for treatment to begin.  Depending on my Oncotype DX score, I may or may not need chemo.  Since radiation would come after chemo, if needed, I have been in a holding pattern.  I've tried to keep myself busy, but there isn't a day that goes buy that I have not been occupied with concern about the "what if".  Hopefully nobody else needed to wait this long for results.

Does anyone know if having a Grade 2 increases the odds of having a higher Oncotype DX score?   I was staged at 1A, grade 2 and my tumor size was under 1cm. 

I am in the waiting boat. Just saw mo on Monday and he is requesting onco type now.  Gee why can't they do this with all the other tests?  Mx was on dec 20th, have appointment scheduled with mo for jan 20 the as long as results are in.  I am praying not to be in the gray area, I will leave it up to mo's opinion, but I need to know I am doing everything I can to kick this cancers ass!  I have 3 daughters and a wonderful hubby and a lifetime I want to spend with them!  

Ha Warrior Woman I taught you well ...

Look at the point where the lines separate!

WW - It's all relative, isn't it?  At 27% recurrence, chemo taking me to 18% and using an AI maybe 2% more than Tamoxifen, I'm still higher than you after treatment than before you even think about chemo.  Maybe that's why I'm still uncomfortable - , but really, the point is, it's the absolute % improvement you get from chemo, more than where you land,  considering the risks of some chemo.  If I got a 5% improvement with chemo, but my risk of cardiomyopathy, myelodysplastic syndrome or AML with some chemos was 7%, would I do chemo?  I'm just saying, weigh the risks and look into the possible risks of any particular chemo.  I have permanent peripheral neuropathy in my feet from Taxol - it's not fun.  I had the Red Devil (Adriamycin) and sometimes think of those risks that pop up years later.

HI NNN

Hopefully your Oncotype will be low hence making your decision for you. My histology results were similar to yours and I had resigned myself to no chemo and then my Oncotype had a score of 30. I feel your dilemma as I too had similar feelings about chemo and it's long term side effects and weighed up all the percentages like yourself. Having a little bit of medical knowledge I eventually after huge deliberation decided on a chemo regimen called CMF. Im no expert but it's known as "chemo lite" by some with I believe fewer side effects and for some no hair loss.  There is a huge thread on here and many ladies with a lot of knowledge about it. It may be worth a read for you if your Oncotype returns a higher result than you'd like. It did help in my decision making although it wasn't easy.  

Here is the link should you want it. 

http://community.breastcancer.org/forum/6/topic/24...

Good luck for a low result. 

Lilly. 

Dear NNN

I am so sorry if I scared you. It wasn't meant to. Just wanted to share that we understand your fears and that the waiting is horrendous. 

I echo everything WW said. I am 42 and this was an influencing factor for me. Like WW said the Oncotype is just another piece of information in the whole picture. It's such a hard time waiting.

Lilly x

NNN - Yay! Good for you! Good luck with the rest of your treatment.