Oncotype and Breast Cancer Index - any correlation?
Reading through many other threads, it's clear I'm not the only one who's ever approached the five-year mark and struggled to decide whether to continue for another five. I'm thinking of asking for the Breast Cancer Index test. On the other hand, I feel relatively comfortable calling it quits, as my oncotype was low, and when I run my stats through calculators like Predict and CTS5 my scores come out even lower. Does that mean my BCI score would also be low? Or, is there no correlation? I don't know if my insurance would pay for BCI, and also, if it comes back with a recommendation to continue, I'll feel compelled to keep taking the wretched pills for another five years!
I'm also not sure how age and menopausal status fit into these calculations. I was premenopausal and less than a year away from turning 50 at diagnosis. Now I am a few years past 50 and as menopausal as it's possible to be due to hysterectomy. So, if I’d been diagnosed just a little later, my recommendations would be different, assuming the delay didn’t change the tumor size and node status.
Just wondering, before I go through the additional expense and and stress of another test, if there's any way to know what the answer is likely to be?
Comments
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Hi purplecat, The Oncotype and BCI tests are not really related. They give different information and this paper says the Oncotype score is determined more strongly by estrogen-related features while the BCI is determined more strongly by proliferative features (like ki-67.) I haven't seen anything that compares the BCI to Predict and CTS5.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33108242/
If you would consider taking AIs for another 5 years and your insurance will pay for the BCI there is no harm in having it done. If your insurance won't pay or you feel like you have done enough and the other calculators give you good odds it might not be worth paying out of pocket. Good luck with your decision.
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