Hi Fran,

A very warm welcome to our forum.

I am glad to hear that you have had your surgery and hope that you are recovering well. I can understand your puzzlement at the fact that your friend is now ahead of you on her cancer journey and hasn't needed to sent any tissue samples to America.  I am not a doctor, but I expect that you may both have different types of cancer. It appears that your friend didn't need chemo, whereas it is being considered for you.

The Oncotype DX test predicts how likely your cancer is to spread after surgery and determines just how effective chemo would be in your treatment. It gives the result in percentages. The lower the percentage, the less effective chemo will be. If they are very low, people often decide to stick to radiotherapy alone, whereas, if they're high, then you'll have a better chance with chemo, or a combination of chemo and radiotherapy. 

I trust that this helps to explain the difference between yours and your friend's treatment and I hope that all the results are back by the time you see your consultant again.

Please keep in touch and let us know how you get on. We are always here for you.

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hi Fran and thank you for your post,

I am sorry to learn that you have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer.

I might be wrong but it sounds like the tissue sample has been sent to America for the Oncotype Dx test. For some women it is often clear if having chemotherapy after surgery for breast cancer will be beneficial and help reduce the risk of the cancer returning, this depends on the size of the tumour and how far it has spread.

For some women, however,  it is not so clear, and this is why the tissue sample may be sent to America to test for genes that are found in breast cancer. This information tells the doctors what the risk of the cancer returning may be.

A score is given which is known as the recurrence score which is between 0-100. The higher the score, the more likely the breast cancer will come back and the more likely you would benefit from having chemotherapy.

The specialist looks at the score as well as other information about your breast cancer to decide if you will benefit from chemotherapy. The test does cost around £3,000, so this is probably what the specialist meant by this. There is more information about this test on the Breast Cancer Now website here. On our website, there is also information about the different tests that are done on breast cancer cells which you can read here.

Everyone's situation is individual and it might be with your friend's situation that it was clear whether she may or may not benefit from having chemotherapy and therefore didn't need to have the test done.

It would be worth clarifying things with your breast nurse specialist as they will know more about your situation.

I hope this helps. Please get back to us if you need any more information or support.  You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

Take care Fran, all the best

Jemma

Hi Fran,

Have you had any word of your test results yet?

Kind regards,

Jolamine xx

Hello,

I think I've typed a reply to your question, but it hasn't shown up yet.   Maybe I pressed the wrong button?  Rubbish at these chat forum things!

I see the surgeon for talks and hopefully results this Wednesday 7th Feb, then maybe I can move on from this 'limbo' situation I've been in since early Jan.

Will try and work out how to let you know!

Regards

Fran and thanks so much for thinking of me.

HI Fran,

I suspect that you must have cancelled your reply, instead of hitting the reply button. How did you get on with your results appointment?

Kind regards,

Jolamine  xx