It will be 20 days out on Monday and no results

That's long, and it's cruel.

Is this a freestanding breast center or part of a bigger healthcare system? If part of a bigger healthcare system, do you receive care from anyone else in the healthcare system? In my case, the radiologist who did my biopsy made it clear he was leaving town before the pathology report would be back, but that a resident would call me. Well, didn't happen and didn't happen. I left a message for my primary, who is in the same system and had access to the report, and she contacted me with the results. I could've also called the NP who ordered the diagnostic mammo and US, but I was pretty sure it was cancer and was more comfortable hearing it from my primary.

And please do complain. Especially if this turns out to be benign, and you don't have to deal with the trauma of a cancer diagnosis, please take time to let higher-ups know this was NOT acceptable. In the US, I think you could safely say it's not within the normal wait time.

It should only take a few days. This is inhumane. Option 1: Set aside some phone time and politely insist on speaking to a nurse or patient advocate to make sure the desk people aren't just giving you lip service and putting you off again. Tell the nurse or advocate that it has been 20 days, and that it is unacceptable that you should have to wait any longer. Option 2: Stage a sit-in. One time I went to the oncologists office and told them I must have my results today and would wait there until someone could see me and give me the results. Then I sat down on a chair near the desk. Lo and behold the oncologist's nurse came out and gave me the results I needed. Option 3: Go to the medical records office, fill out the forms, and get a copy of your report. You have a right to your medical records. Only do this if you are ok with reading it on your own without being able to immediately ask questions.

I'm sorry you have had to endure the stress of a long wait. Please let us know what happens if you can.

Also does your breast center have a nurse navigator? Mine was able to bring all the info up as soon as it hit the computer and was able to (behind the scenes) walk over to pathology to ask them for an ETA on my results.

I went in person to the pathology lab and talked with people there. This was for a different issue (lost sample needed for second opinion). I found that getting to know the assistants in the lab really helped expedite things for me.

Also, if you read the original post, it HAS NOT been twenty days since biopsy. It has been twenty days since her diagnostic mammogram. Nine or ten days since her biopsy. Sometimes additional staining, etc delays biopsy results

You're sure right, cathybee. It would have been much better if they didn't make promises the did NOT keep. Especially when there are multiple factors involved. (I'm sure the person who answered the phone was not a pathologist who could verify your biopsy slides.) You have every right to be angry.

Hang in there. We're here whenever you want to vent.

Makes me think Code for we lost your sample for a few days...but now we are going to do it!

cathybee, probably going to get flack for this, but Oncodx score ?????/. Read enough peoples tags that were low scores that had met'sd. Me score 30 with a ploidy of "unfavorable outcome". Indicators would be mets early. Still here. It's a crapshoot in 2017. Further down the road, it won't be.

Many have given you great advise.

The reason she can't pick it up at medical records is it isn't signed yet. The facility has a two pathologist slide review rule. Good rule.

I agree with everyone make calls to navigator and management. Unacceptable delay at 12 days. Unacceptable.

I don't understand the discussion of/ request for an Oncotype test IF the sole finding is the presence of "atypical" cells (e.g., atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH), atypical lobular hyperplasia (ALH)), or if the diagnosis is LCIS.

These particular atypical (ADH, ALH) conditions and this non-invasive condition (LCIS) are NEVER assessed with an Oncotype test in current clinical practice.

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General Information:

There are two types of Oncotype tests for breast cancer:

(1) The DCIS test:

For those with pure Ductal Carcinoma in situ ("DCIS") treated by breast conserving surgery to inform decisions about whether to add radiation to lumpectomy.

- If there is no DCIS identified, but solely atypia and/or LCIS, then radiation is not even on the table and the test is of no value and is not used.

- Patients treated with mastectomy are not "eligible" for the DCIS test.

- Patients who have any invasive disease (in the same breast), no matter how small (e.g., T1mi or microinvasion), are currently not eligible for the test, because it has only been validated in patients with pure DCIS. Because of this, the test is typically performed after the pathology from lumpectomy confirms pure DCIS (pathologic Stage 0 disease).

(2) The Oncotype Test for Invasive breast cancer (e.g., Invasive Ductal Carcinoma ("IDC"), Invasive Lobular Carcinoma ("ILC"), and/or certain other types of invasive breast cancer):

For certain patients with INVASIVE breast cancer that is hormone receptor-positive (ER+ and/or PR+) and HER2-negative (regardless of type of surgery received) to inform decisions about whether to add chemotherapy to endocrine therapy.

- This test is designed to inform decision-making regarding chemotherapy (i.e., whether a patients should receive endocrine therapy alone OR endocrine therapy plus chemotherapy).

- Under current guidelines, chemotherapy is NEVER used in patients who do not have invasive breast cancer. Therefore, this test is of no value and is not used in those who solely have ADH, ALH, LCIS and/or DCIS (no invasive disease)

- Lymph node status is an element of "eligibility" for this test, so in those with invasive breast cancer and a surgery-first treatment plan, the test is typcially performed after surgical treatment (lumpectomy or mastectomy and lymph node biopsy).

BarredOwl

I totally agree with BarredOwl : It is important for the pathologist to get it right, because clinical management of these conditions differs.

When I sought a 2nd opinion for my biopsy slides showing ALH and classic LCIS to a local NCI-designated Cancer center (less than 20 miles away), it took more like 1-2 months to get the results back. It took about a week for my local hospital to 'select the slides to send over'. Maybe for people with invasive cancer and/or DCIS they do it more quickly because time is more important for them than for people with LCIS/ALH. Also, the clinical treatment for LCIS is not very different than for ALH. (Some pathologists combine the two groups and call both ALH and LCIS as lobular neoplasm.)

The longest I've seen posted here is a woman who had to wait over a month - ?3 months - for her INITIAL biopsy diagnosis, because her slides were equivocal, and they sent them to another institution to get a 2nd opinion. (It wasn't invasive breast cancer or DCIS if I remember correctly.)

In some samples, particularly if they used a small-bore needle, the cells can become distorted through friction and make it very difficult to read by a pathologist. If the sample is mishandled (for example, if they don't dehydrate the sample adequately), then this can also make it hard to read. (I don't know if this ever happens: I assume much of the process is mechanized now?)