Oncotype Dx Test Anyone?

I am sure it was very tough, Red.  I am still waiting for the results of my onco.  I will have them on Feb. 18, along with results of the Bracha and bone scan.  It has been a very very long couple of months from when I was first diagnosed.  But finally, on the 18th I will know exactly what I am facing.  Not sure what my choice will be if I am in the grey area, just have to wait and face that decision when I come to it.  Always a day at a time with a prayer to my God.

casper - 

Ki67 is the proliferation rate, how fast the cells grow or divided.

Wish I could advise you, Daylek.  I am still waiting for my results, I get them on the 18th.  Landing in the middle is hard, but you are right on that border.  I would be doing what you are doing.  Did your MO give you any advice or did he or she just say it is up to you?  Which of course, it is up to you, I am just curious as to if advice was offered from your doctor.

I am right there with you, Kiwi!  I don't think I will ever forget how terribly long these last couple of months have been.  No matter how horrible the news could be, at least I would know!  Never realized how difficult this would be.  Thank God there is this place.  If I were going through this 20 years ago, with no internet, well, let's just say happy we have each other in here.  I am praying you get good results, Kiwi. 

My surgeon from NOLA said probably not chemo. My oncologist in Vermont is meeting with me on Friday. 

I wanted to share my Oncotype results with you b/c our cancer was very similar.  In my right breast I had 2 small tumors that were 6mm and 7mm (just under 1cm), node negative, stage 1b, grade 2 and 3 and DCIS in the lower half of my breast, ER/PR positive HER2 neg.   My scores came back as 14 for the 6mm and 15 for the 7mm one.  I will be on Tamoxifen for 5+ years and am investigating ovary removal after children.  I am 37.  I would venture to guess that your Oncotype may come back similar.  I had a double nipple sparing  mastectomy with recon, so little to no worry about local recurrence.  I didn't want to worry forever about recurrence, monitoring, biopsies, etc.  I am young and 2 months before me my 32 year old sister had a mastectomy for DCIS in both breasts, so mastectomy was a no brainer for me.  Peace of mind was a big thing for me and I never want to hear that news again or have to put my family through it.  Also my family has no history of it and gene testing was negative.  Just for your info, insurance has to cover the mastectomy AND the reconstruction.  Best of luck to you!!

Hi everyone, I'm new here, and I'll need to look back through this thread to catch up.  I'm waiting for my Oncotype DX results... I should have had them already, and when I started calling the oncologist's office for results 14 days after my bilateral mastectomy, I found out that she forgot to order it    So now the pathology sample has to be sent to another state, and then results will come after that.  

In the meantime, I've had 2 doctors tell me that even though my lymph nodes were clear, I'm firmly a stage I, and they feel no need to do any scans because they feel very confident that there's been no spread of the cancer, that they'd probably still recommend chemo regardless of my Oncotype score.  Their words were "everyone is going to want to give you the adriamycin because you're only 30 and your heart can handle the damage that the adriamycin causes."  My mom had adriamycin and I saw the heart damage that it caused on her and how it affected her, so I find my doctors' sentiment extremely frustrating.  Giving me chemo because I'm young and can handle it seems like they're treating me like an experiment rather than evidence-based practice.  

Sorry, I think I just needed a place to vent where others know what I'm talking about.  

LaVie,

Waiting stinks. My surgeon said the MO would order the test, then something got held up in pathology, and long story short, it was 8 weeks after surgery that the results came back. Fortunately mine was low, but while waiting I was also panicked about adriamycin because my mom died of congestive heart failure during treatment for BC. I think your docs are saying probably chemo because 1) the pathology is grade 3, and 2) your age. My MO listened to my concern and said that if I did need chemo he would do TC only. If you do need chemo, ask about alternatives to A, and get a second opinion if your doc doesn't hear your concerns. Good luck

Thank you all for weighing in with your perspectives.  It really helps to have calmer minds give input when I'm feeling frazzled.  I definitely think I'll seek more opinions when the official number comes in, and I'm glad to hear they're allowing more options with chemo, so maybe with some research I can discuss something other than adriamycin (if it comes to that).

The thing is, I see a lot of people on here (and obviously my oncologist feels the same) feel that the younger you are, the more benefit there is to doing chemo early as I have many years ahead of me to live.  After my mother's experience, it has me coming from the opposite end of the spectrum.  She had her lifetime maximum of adriamycin and taxol when she received it back in 1999.  Thankfully she's still alive and has had no more cancer scares yet, but that was her 3rd time fighting breast cancer.  She maxed out on her lifetime maximum of radiation with her first 2 bouts of breast cancer so she couldn't receive it the 3rd time.  I really want those options to be there for me if I have to fight cancer again later in life and I worry about maxing out early on.  My mother is still fairly young - she has plenty of years left in her, but if God forbid she got cancer again, her options would be much more limited.  

It's a lot to take in and I think my mind is still overwhelmed by it all.  I appreciate all perspectives and information, though, and am definitely trying to sift through it.  This experience certainly makes you feel like you have to obtain the knowledge of an oncologist overnight!

Tomorrow will be one month since the oncotype test was ordered for me. Hold ups with the pathology lab not sending my slides, then when I called yesterday they said that it was still in the lab as it had to be retested. The hope is that the result will be through on Friday, but that is not guaranteed.  This waiting really does stink!   

Oh my gosh, worried mom, so sorry to hear you're going through this    Yes, it almost feels surreal.  I suppose it would feel that way at any age, but, well, I don't know how to describe it.  I know what you mean about coming to terms with acceptance.  Since I'm still very, very early in my reconstruction, I walk around with scarves layered upon my chest and I still tend to walk hunched over to cover up my lack of breasts.  It's like I can feel all of the glances in my direction, and whenever I meet up with someone who knows what's going on with me, every time they look me over I get a weird feeling.  

Kiwilady, that's ridiculous!  I can only imagine how awful all this waiting has been.  I can only hope that you'll get good results to compensate for this agony.

Call from the Oncologists today, I have an appointment Monday morning to go and get my results. Yippee. Who'd have imagined I'd be so excited about that!

Low, low, low!  Will be thinking of you on Monday, Kiwi.

KiwiLady,

    I was also in the gray zone so I know how it feels to have to make such a difficult decision.  I also did chemo and weirdly, once I got my test back and made my decision I felt better.  I made my decision on a Thursday, had chemo class on Friday, visited the dentist for a cleaning on Monday and had my first chemo treatment on Tuesday.  It helped that everything moved along quickly from that point.  Take good care, hon.  We are all rooting for you.

Love, MsP