Is this considered triple negative?
I just my follow up with my surgeon. Margins are clear, the 6 lymph nodes she took out had 0 cancer. The estrogen was low positive, just 3% and the progesterone and HER2 were negative. It is stage 1, grade 2. I will have radiation for sure and she's thinking no chemo but that will be up to the oncologist. I will get a call in a few weeks for that appointment. Happy day for me 💕 So because the estrogen is only 3% and the other two are negative, would that mean triple negative?
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bohartois,
Your cancer may very well be treated as though it were triple negative. That WOULD, I'm afraid, mean chemo. However, as your surgeon notes, chemo is something that your oncologist will discuss with you. It's really not the surgeon's call.
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oh ok, so not triple negative
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I guess I will have to wait and see what the oncologist says.
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They can also choose to do an octotype test on your tumor to find out whether chemo will be beneficial. Sometimes when hormone receptors are low they find the rewards of chemo way outweigh the risks. Oncotype could clarify whether you are one of those individuals.
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I’m not sure if they’re doing that.
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My initial biopsy showed the primary tumor as only 5% ER positive but still I was classified as hormone positive. After chemo (Taxol) the tumor shrank and became 20% ER positive, so I think hormone positive cells don’t respond as well to chemo. In other words, it seemed as though the non-hormone-positive cells were killed off more so than the hormone-positive ones.
I still see myself as triple negative with a slight chance of response to hormone therapy, so I’m on Tamoxifen. But after 5 years I’ll be off per my MO since by then the risks of taking it would not make it worthwhile. Hope this helps.
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