Low onco - no radiation?

shellgirl · January 2019

Hello all,

I was diagnosed with ILC on Nov. 7 and had a mastectomy on Dec 3 (right side only). I had to have a mastectomy due to the size of the tumor and my small breasts. I was told that I would require radiation after the mastectomy to kill any stray cancer cells not caught by the surgery. I could not have immediate reconstruction because of the radiation I would need. So tissue expander was placed in during surgery. Surgery went well, no lymph node involvement. My oncologist said she wanted to do Onco testing because of the size of the tumor and my age (50). Results came back today.....8! Great news...no chemo. However she also mentioned that I would not need radiation. WHAT? I thought that was why I had the expander put in so that I could have the radiation. She said she didn't think I would need the radiation since the score was low. I'm wondering about these stray cancer cells they talked about earlier. Has anyone had a similar experience? I meet with the radiation oncologist on Friday. I certainly don't want to go through radiation if there is no benefit. But I also want to be sure I've done everything possible to beat this. What types of things should I ask her about on Friday?

Also, will not having the radiation speed up the process for my reconstruction surgery? I had my last fill today. My surgeon said that I wouldn't have the reconstruction until April of next year. That would give my body time to recover from the radiation. Well, if no radiation, I don't know why we would need to wait so long. Thoughts?

Thanks so much to everyone who shares their stories. This community has brought me such comfort the past 6 weeks!

Careninnj · January 2019

i had a double mastectomy aug 16th. I had an oncotype of 15. No chemo or rads. But im on hormonal therapy. And ive had my expanders since aug. I wont get final implants till march. My surgeon said he likes to stretch the skin as long as possible. At least 6 month, to get best results.

Goldfish4884 · January 2019

I had double mastectomy October 23, 2017, tissue expanders placed. No radiation, no chemo. My oncotype score was 16. Finished fills December 18 and had exchange April 9. My PS said 3 months waiting time.

H8BC · January 2019

hi Shellgirl,

I too had right mastectomy (11/2/18), clear margins, and low onco score (6). They placed a TE thinking at the time that I would not need radiation, but then I had one positive node out of 10 plus the tumor size was 5.5 cm, so they will now do radiation/ no chemo. (since your nodes are negative that's probably why you don't need it; what about the tumor size?). I don't know about the chest wall ... that's a good question. My radiologist said he'll be radiating the chest wall too but I don't know why since there was clear margins, but I guess it's because tumor was over 5cm - I start rads on 1/14 ... scared to death about damage to my lung. My TE won't be replaced for a year or so- because of radiation; so, yes, that would speed up reconstruction if no radiation is needed.

H8BC · January 2019

hi Shellgirl,

I too had right mastectomy (11/2/18), clear margins, and low onco score (6). They placed a TE thinking at the time that I would not need radiation, but then I had one positive node out of 10 plus the tumor size was 5.5 cm, so they will now do radiation/ no chemo. (since your nodes are negative that's probably why you don't need it; what about the tumor size?). I don't know about the chest wall ... that's a good question. My radiologist said he'll be radiating the chest wall too but I don't know why since there was clear margins, but I guess it's because tumor was over 5cm - I start rads on 1/14 ... scared to death about damage to my lung. My TE won't be replaced for a year or so- because of radiation; so, yes, that would speed up reconstruction if no radiation is needed.

Low onco - no radiation?

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