Hello and thank you for your post,

I am sorry to learn of your situation, this must be a difficult time.

Everyone's treatment is planned individually and depends on several things. Chemotherapy is recommended after breast surgery to reduce the risk of the cancer coming back.

Through research, doctors have learned a lot about the genetic makeup of cancer cells and now treatment is more personal and targeted to each person's situation. The Optima trial is looking at a test to predict who might benefit from chemotherapy.

Doctors decide who should have chemotherapy by looking at the size of the cancer and checking to see if it has spread to lymph nodes. However, some people might not benefit from having chemotherapy. They may do as well with just hormone therapy. So doctors are looking for better ways to decide who should and shouldn’t have chemotherapy.

This trial will answer the question if some women will not need to have chemotherapy and whether hormone therapy and radiotherapy are enough as a treatment.

When you see what the potential side effects of chemotherapy might be this can be overwhelming. Everyone's response to treatment is different but it is important to know it does not mean that a person will get all the side effects mentioned. Unfortunately, you do not know until you have the treatment how it will affect you.

There is always a lot of uncertainty about how well someone may respond to treatment and whether or not cancer may come back which can be difficult to live with. If you are having concerns you may find it helpful to discuss this with your breast nurse specialist (CNS) as they know your situation.

Also you are very welcome to give our nurses on the helpline a call and talk things through. The freephone number to ring is 0808 800 4040 and we are available between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.

Take care,

Jemma