Stage II without chemo?

Hi everyone! Good news! My oncotype came back with a score of 15! It said that my recurrence risk with Tamoxifen alone is 11%, and with chemo it is actually worse at 12%! Of course I am going to see what my oncologist will say, along with a second opinion, and make a final decision then. Again, thank you all for your advice. I'll let you know how everything goes from here.

God bless!

Hi again! I had my appointment with the second opinion oncologist. He went over the standard recommendations of care for my type of cancer, which are Taxol and Cytoxan for 4 rounds. But he went on to tell me about current trials (RxPonder) that target Oncotype results of <25 in people who have 1-3 positive lymph nodes. He said that the trial is now closed, but that it is "reasonable and ethical" to forego chemo, since half of the women in that study are randomized to just horomone therapy. It shows that the researchers are confident in their theory. That means someone with an oncotype of 25 and 3 lymph nodes could go without chemo according to the trial, and I just have one positive lymph node with an oncotype of 15! He said that I would get about a 5% benefit of chemo over 10 years, which is just not enough for me.

And about the original oncotype study on lymph-node positive women: even though there were only ~350 women followed, Oncotype studies have always shown to be effective in preventing unnecessary chemotherapy. He said he has many people who come in similar to my situation and ultimately decide against chemo, but until it is proven in the studies 5-10 years from now, he can't make it my standard recommendation. Basically, it needs to show that those 5% of recurrences are in women with high scores.

So his plan for me with or without chemo would be to do Arimidex for 10 years with Zometa infusions every 6 months (because of my weak bones). He said that Arimidex is shown to have a 1% benefit over Tamoxifen, and that Zometa has a further 3% benefit in overall survival. I am all for those *proven* odds. I just don't want to inject a poison into my body if the question on whether it will hurt or help me is still up in the air.

I am SO glad I got a second opinion. The doctor, his nurse, and the whole staff were so kind and caring, and went out of their way to make me feel comfortable. I hope my story can help others make their decision, because having to make the choice is not easy at first. My advice is to get as much information as you can before making any decision. Get the oncotype/mammaprint/etc. READ your pathology report. Get a second opinion, because you ARE worth it, and these decisions will impact the rest of your life.

Best wishes to you all. God bless.