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Aromatase Inhibitors: Did you decide to go on them or not?
Breast Cancer | Last Active: May 12, 2023 | Replies (1190)Comment receiving replies
Those docs may have assumed you had radiation since most folks who have lumpectomies seem to. In fact, I had mastectomies to avoid radiation. So they were assuming a norm. And confused it with a prerequisite.
Tests like Prosigna Assay and Breast Cancer Index consider a 5% risk to be "high risk." It is hard to know whom to believe. I do know that risk goes up with hormone-driven cancers. Triple negative cases are higher risk at first but if they make it 5 years, they can be reassured (or so I have read). But hormonal cancers continue to rise in risk, unfortunately.
And guess what? Oncotype, Prosigna and Breast Cancer Index all have different results for me! The Oncotype is best for the time of diagnosis, in regard to benefit of chemo. It has changed the course of treatment for so many. a wonderful thing.
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Maybe but the doctors should not have assumed that because the Oncotype protocol, literature and even the results page that the doctor and patient receive clearly state otherwise. I'm a fairly diligent researcher when it comes to medical stuff, but someone else might have felt persuaded to have radiation based on a statistic that didn't apply. And Oncotype told me that they continue to hear of doctors who clearly still don't understand the limits of the test, including some that submit biopsy material to determine if surgery is called for. (Yikes.)
The breastcancer.org site was still wrong in its description of the OncotypeDX as of a month ago.
I swear there's no rest for the weary patient just trying to make sense of stuff. And
my permanent goal is to never be eligible for participation in any drug class action, or individual malpractice or negligence, lawsuits, lol.