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Meaning of ER/PR scores on Oncotype Report

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odyssey305
odyssey305 Member Posts: 37

Hi everyone. Before I call Genomic Health with this, I thought I would check with the wise people on BCO…what is the significance of the ER/PR scores reported on the Oncotype report other than confirming + or - receptor status? Also what is the range for strongly positive, moderately positive etc? I’ve tried to find some information online and came across a similar thread on this board, but I’m still stumped. I’m midway through treatment so this won’t necessarily impact any decisions for me, but I am really curious and maybe others are too as there’s so little information. Thank you!

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  • moth
    moth Member Posts: 3,293
    edited March 2022
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    Oncotype uses a different method to determine hormone status than IHC. It is said that if there's a discrepancy, you should go with the IHC. But, in some cases - like mine - it leads to a whole review of IHC status. My 2017 initial IHC from biopsy was 10% faint ER+/PR-/HER2-. Oncotype came back & said I was triple neg. My biopsy sample & my tumor sample did the rounds among pathologists here for 2nd opinions & eventually they coded it as negative as well.

    I believe Oncotype factors the strength of the ER positivity into the recurrence score. Not sure how well the search function is doing right now but Beesie did a number of posts about this .. I think she's on board break while the board is being revamped atm

  • odyssey305
    odyssey305 Member Posts: 37
    edited April 2022
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    Hi Moth! That was my next question, about discrepancies - thank you for clearing that up for me. I'm sorry to hear about what you went through, I'm sure all the waiting was nerve-wracking. My initial biopsy report showed that I was strongly ER/PR positive but my Oncotype showed that I was only moderately ER+ and weakly PR+ (if I understood the scores correctly). My MO didn't seem concerned and I didn’ think to ask at the time.Now I'm curious about whether discrepancies are due to tumor heterogeneity or if the Oncotype testing is more sensitive. I'll see if I can pull up Bessie's posts about this…

    Hope you have a peaceful weekend😊