Hi Peaberry

I had a lumpectomy in November and one positive lymph node was found during biopsy, with lymphovascular invasion.  I decided to have node clearance and no further positive nodes were found.

My oncologist suggested i go forward for the Optima trial and the prospect of no chemo was seriously tempting. I was reassured that the threshold would be quite high, so they wouldnt suggest no chemo if you were borderline, they must think the risk is low. However, as with any cancer treatment, there are no guarantees. For me i couldn't stop thinking about the paragraph in the trial pack that said "in future we may realise that you would have benefitted from chemotherapy".  In the same way, having chemotherapy when it isn't needed is also not beneficial.  I think it comes down to peace of mind.   Would you be more likely to regret having cheno when you might not have needed it (with potential side effects) or would it be worse to think maybe you would have benefitted from it?   For me, i just wanted reassurance that any rogue cells were getting zapped.

As it turned out, i was ineligible for the trial as I'm 39 - the minimum age is 40.  I'd already come to terms with my decision by then.

Good luck with your decision making, i know how tough that is.  Do your family have an opinion?

Embop x