Name of tests please

That's a great outcome @LibbyA - it will save you the risk of serious sideffects and means your cancer should be controllable through hormonal treatment over the long term. But it does mean you will have to stick with the hormonal treatments. I am in the same boat and my Letrozole side effects aren't too bad, although do seem to be getting worse after a year. But there's no alternative so you just have to find strategies for dealing with them. Have been having oncology massage lately which is wonderful.

Onwards and upwards Libby. K xox

Thank you all for the replies. Saw the oncologist today who said I only had a 2% benefit from chemo and a very high chance of bad side effects, so we are not going ahead with it.  Just radiation and trial of hormone blocker after that.

I had a genomic test called prosigna in some ways I think it has to do with oncologist preferences. Prosigna sorts tumours into Luminal A does not benefit from chemo or Luminal B does as higher rate of metastasis it has some other variants to. It was expensive but glad I had it as I was borderline for chemo and it said I had Luminal b tumours.

Let's hope so!

Thank you.   Yes, I have a few chronic illnesses that most doctors either havent heard of or just say they dont exist.  I have a professor of immunology and another of endocrinology treating me. I trust they have some idea.........lol

Go for it. I learned early on in my BC that you have to be your own best advocate. Many doctors are wonderful, but they see people like us all day. They aren't superhuman. We must be the experts in our own cancer. More than once I've asked a question that has sent my doctor off to do 'homework'. K xox

I agree.  Now, I’m not sure how big my cancer was. I will have to go through the paperwork. 38 mm is in my head but hubby thinks that was what was removed rather than just cancer. I couldnt find a size limit in the EndoPredict test, just less than 3 nodes involved and I only had the one.

You really would @LibbyA. I know the drug companies have approached the government repeatedly but have been knocked back every time.

My understanding is that of everyone diagnosed with BC, there is a group that clearly need to have chemotherapy, and a group that clearly don't. However in between there's a group in a grey area. In a large study done recently, they worked out that using genomic tests only 30% of that group actually need to have chemo.

If the 70% who are currently having chemo 'unnecessarily' didn't have it, you'd think that it would save the health budget more than the subsidised genomic tests would cost. It would also save a lot of unnecessary suffering, and the cost of managing the ongoing side effects that many are left with.

I find it all very frustrating.

I know it is awfully expensive and I cannot afford that amount, but my daughter told me to go for it if it’s suitable and she will cover the cost.    Considering the cost to the government for public patients like me having treatment, you’d think they’d be pushing the test and rebating it.