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tests before radiation therapy

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tsquare
tsquare Member Posts: 19

Are there any tests done after surgery and diagnosis and before starting radiation therapy treatment for positive nodes?

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  • alicebastable
    alicebastable Member Posts: 1,942
    edited July 2022
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    Not sure what tests you mean. Have you had an Oncotype score yet? I see you had a mastectomy. Were you told you'd need radiation? Usually it's people who opted for lumpectomies who get radiation, unless your cancer was very aggressive. You also posted a question about chemo - that's what the Oncotype score determines, plus your age and aggressiveness of the cancer cells. How many positive nodes did you have?

  • tsquare
    tsquare Member Posts: 19
    edited July 2022
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    alicebastable thank you for writing. I am now at the time after my mastectomy surgery and before going to see oncologists next week. I have 3 out of 3 positive nodes with ECE. According to my surgeon I will be going for chemo then radio then hormonal treatments. I was wondering if they do any kind of tests to figure out if there are more positive nodes in there and how many before they start treatments so size of the treatment can be set... if there is such a thing. I am anxious and trying to find my way and what to expect.

  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 4,792
    edited July 2022
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    Tsquare,

    I know you addressed your question to alice but here’s your answer. It appears as if you’ve already had a sentinel node biopsy but nothing further. Some doctors will do a complete axillary node dissection at that point but not always. There is no additional test beyond your SNB if a complete node dissection wasn’t done. Radiation may target the axillary area so please ask your doctor about that. Take care.