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Trisha, the Oncotest report gives you guidelines on the % hormone therapy and chemo are estimated to reduce risk of recurrence. My Onco test said I would reduce my recurrence percentage at least 7% with chemo (and that was using older less effective chemo drugs) and 17% keeping my estrogen level down. This made chemo seem worth it to me as it brought my recurrence risk down from 34% to 10%!
I was stage 1, grade 2 at small infiltration and grade 3 at the 1.5 cm DCIS. My PR was always low 10% so onco test re-dx'd to PR neg with a 26 Onco score... also considered intermediate.
My Onco gave me the choice, but said if I did chemo I may be able to avoid hormone therapy with lifestyle. He said he could get anyone through chemo and they come out the other side the same. He said the hormone therapy is trickier.
So my husband and I soul searched for a few minutes and decided I should do chemo. I went back the next day and started 4 rounds of TC.
Now that I'm done with chemo my Onco is monitoring my estrogen level and if it stays below 5 he says no need for hormone therapy. I came in at 2! (Note: I was on an estrogen patch for years so after removing it the day I was dx'd I guess I began therapy!!!)
After writing all this down I realize we each have very different little pieces to our puzzle. Go with your dr's logically explained opinion and then with your gut.
Chemo is not easy but I looked at it as a deep detox and therefore a little more insurance. I feel less anxious to forgo hormone therapy than if I hadn't done it.
Hope that rambling helps!!
I had a oncotype test score of 19 and 2 out of 3 oncologists recommended no chemo. I didn't have chemo, just radiation and Arimidex.
I had 2 nodes out of 8+ and had stage 2B IDC, my onco score was 12. Yes, I am one of those who had the test done. I didn't have chemo and worry sometimes about my decision, it is what it is now. I can't change it. If I had it to do over again I would have had the chemo after the BMX but no reconstruction. I didn't know about this site, if I had all of my breas ties here would have helped me through it. I was so afraid of losing my hair(baby, I know) .
@A MyBCTeam Member - wow, no chemo for a score of 29 and under. Mine was 30, so I would still have had chemo, but I thought the standard for foregoing chemo was a much smaller score range.
@A MyBCTeam Member my PR per the path report was also 10% but the Oncotype came back as still positive with a score of 6.9. And my ER is 90% with onco score of 9.4. Looks like I can't avoid Tomoxifen.
The negative nodes make it more of a gray area. Have one oncologist appointment Wednesday and one the following Monday, will take notes at each to see rationale either for or against....
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