Jennie, I first met with an oncologist a few weeks after a lumpectomy and he suggested that I have the OncotypeDX test done as it helps determine risk of recurrence but, more importantly, whether chemo should be considered.

I had surgery at Cleveland Clinic and they routinely keep aside tumor tissue from tumor surgery in case genomic testing is ordered. [I suspect that that's standard practice everywhere. Or certainly hope it is.] So, when we agreed to have the OncotypeDX done, I just signed the request and the tissue was submitted for testing.

I hope and wish everyone considers genomic tests that could help one carve put a treatment plan. In my case, chemo was ruled out as 'not recommended by the test report. And we learned that I have a very low risk of recurrence (under 3% if I take aromatase inhibitors, under 6% if I don't) if the OncotypeDX is valid and the breast oncology world seems to think it is.

What was extra reassuring was that my oncologist said that he thought the risk number would be that low as well. That is, his 30 years of working in breast cancer oncology, had him calculating essentially the same approximate result. There are cases though where the genomic testing reveals a very different risk than what a clinician might suspect so it can 'catch errors' that could make a big difference in prognosis and treatment.