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Monibear's avatar
Monibear
Member
2 years ago

Oncotype DX test

Sought a second opinion today before launching into chemo which the oncology meeting and first oncologist recommended. She said my results put me on the fence - no lymph nodes; early stage; ER+ Pr+ HERs - ; Ki50% - and that I am a prime candidate for the Oncotype DX test. So $5K later - shared some academic papers as well. Now we wait for 3 weeks. If it comes back with a recommendation for chemo I am ready for that also - took a few weeks to get my mind into accepting the possibility 
  • Aska's avatar
    Aska
    Member
    2 years ago
    Hi Monibear
    Was it recommended because of Er/Pr pos status with high K value? Is hormone positive often resistant to chemo? Asking as I'm Er/Pr pos too big K67 5%. Didn't have chemo as tumour was less than 2cm
  • Monibear's avatar
    Monibear
    Member
    2 years ago
    @Aska also because I am over 50+, menopausal and it didn’t spread to my lymph nodes- the research indicates minimal benefit in percentage terms (78% survival with chemo v 73% hormone therapy) - if the result comes back with a mid-range score over 25 then chemo will increase changes of survival 
  • Cath62's avatar
    Cath62
    Member
    2 years ago
    Hi  @Monibear,  I was ER+, PR+, Her2 - and Ki was 69 so very high. Original bc found in 2020 very early and only 18mm. I had no lymph involvement. I had a lumpectomy  chemo for 4 months and radium. Then tamoxifen for 18 months and side effects were too much so then put on Letrozole but in July 2023 I was diagnosed with mets in my spine.

    So I did all that treatment in 2020 but still even with chemo the cancer came back. My advice is do every you can to stop the cancer even if it means chemo. Chemo wasn't that bad. Some people get through it without alot of side effects. 

    I just got bloody unlucky and that ki factor was so high so the risk of return was very high. I have no regret undertaking all that treatment in 2020 and I am still fighting on new drugs to slow the progression. I think if I didn't do chemo which was recommended I would have been wondering if my cancer returned because I didn't do it but glad I don't need to think about that. 

    Just food for thought. Good luck with your treatment.


  • cranky_granny's avatar
    cranky_granny
    Member
    2 years ago
    hi All
    Seeing er/pr + is the more common type of BC wonder how much the government would save by doing the test. 
    I went complete public patient accept for breast surgeons room visits. How much did all my treatment cost.
    the cost of the test is more than I could ever afford. I wonder if it was a more reasonable price whether more would get it done. The fact that it could prove chemo isn’t going to help. 
    Im er/pr+ her-  went through the chemo getting to 2nd phase and only 8 out of 12 Taxol done when neuropathy got to point of no return so it was stopped.  10 days later into surgery. Turns out the chemo didn’t do much my tumour was still stuck to the skin bone and muscle and the lymph’s weren’t clear either.