Oncotype test and results
I just had a double mastectomy. The point was to have a lower risk of not having the cancer come back. They done a Oncotype Dx test and my score was 51. Now they are wanting me to do chemo. I am very scared and questioning rather I want to do that or not. I am 54 years old. I dont know what to do!
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One of the difficulties of this diagnosis is how things change with further information. My Oncotype was borderline so I didn’t do chemo. Yours is high so chemo would be effective in getting rid of any rogue cells. I sympathize with your reluctance but many people here have managed to get through it. You can always decide which treatments you want to do but chemo has to be done early on in the timeline. All the best with your decision.
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Hi @ddgale70 -
Sorry that you have had to join this 'club', but glad you found us.
We've all been there. I went into chemo emotionally kicking and screaming. It wasn't fun, but I made it through. This was my 2nd round with the b.c. beast. The first time I didn't need chemo. I had hoped that I could bypass it this time too, so left it up to the Oncotype test. When it came back high, I realized that i really had to do it to avoid having regrets later if it came back again.
Any type of treatment is always your decision. However, the studies done with the Oncotype test seem to be pretty solid. It has allowed many people to not have to do chemo. Some of us…..not so lucky.
We're here for you regardless of your decision. Feel free to ask questions and rant and vent as much as you like.
We get it.
Take care.
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I did chemo more because of my clinical risk - tumours didn't show up on mammograms so wasn't caught early. I did not have an Oncotype due to the clinical risk (size, nodes) being enough that my oncologist felt it was justified to go ahead with chemo. I dragged myself through it feeling it wasn't likely to do much for me (suspect my oncotype would have been low, who knows) - but I didn't want to have any regrets.
Anyway, while I was still in the wilderness, trying to get my head round everything, my oncologist (on the verge of retiring) said something to me which stuck: this isn't the disease it once was. I was bemused. Had someone had a quiet word with breast cancer? Told it to behave? I think what he really meant, is that the treatments work. We have more options than we did back in the 1970s when outcomes were not great. There are more targeted treatments, stronger chemo, newer hormonal therapies and a better understanding of how to bring all this together. The data is there - the outcomes are better, not perfect, but better. But they are better because people generally take the recommended treatment. They only work if you take them.
I have a feeling that if anything saves me (beyond my surgery), it will be the tamoxifen I take every day. If I had a high oncotype, I imagine I would feel that the chemo would be my magic bullet. Fast dividing cells respond better to it. And once it is done, it is done.
Don't get me wrong, the thought is utterly terrifying. I had to be dragged off my sofa into the hospital for each appointment. The thought, however, was worse than the reality of it. Everyone I know who went through it along with me in real life is fine now. Not in the sense that they have a guaranteed cancer free future, but their hair grew back, those of us that wanted went back to work, one bought two dogs, another is running two businesses, we are all probably exercising way more than we did. You wouldn't know to look at us what we went through.
I wouldn't feel comfortable telling you what to do but chemo is a well researched part of the treatment regime. It brings your percentage chances up. And you can't go back to revisit it. There are lots of chemo groups on this website for support. Good luck with whatever you decide.
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