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Diagnosed with DCIS: How do I decide on treatment?
Breast Cancer | Last Active: Mar 20 10:00am | Replies (345)Comment receiving replies
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I get my breast care from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Monmouth New Jersey. They have been wonderful, not one complaint. However, this test never came up. They were certain of my DCIS upon reading my initial breast MRI. And then a lumpectomy followed with my sentinel node being removed due to their skepticism about my microinvasions being so many and so close. My surgeon was 99.9 % sure she got it all but the team of doctors wanted 100% certainty. Chemo was never an option as I never had "invasive" cancer. I was very close, but they knew I wasn't there. I did have 25 rounds of radiation, and they were confident that that is all i needed. I am wondering if this is something that is worth mentioning to my oncologist. I just had my annual follow up with her and we knocked my Tamoxifen down to its lowest dose. I may put a message out there and ask about this test. My oncologist also has about the same time in experience as yours so this would be something they would be knowlegable about. (I hope) My oncologist is also predicting low reoccurrence rates for me, except that the microinvasions were somewhat of a concern for them.
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@jennie23b you didn't have chemo and you are on tamoxifen. Are you sure you didn't have an Oncotype done? The Oncotype tells you whether chemo is of benefit (clearly no in your case) and risk reduction with tamoxifen (which you might want to know, but then again, you are already taking it).
You can have the Oncotype (or any other testing) done with stored specimens. Your doctor can arrange it and you can facilitate by talking with the pathology lab.
It might be that the OncotypeDX wasn't appropriate as there are parameters and conditions for its use. I would be confident of care at Sloan and almost went there myself. (And would have if I'd had something complicated or rare.)
Kudos on the lower tamoxifen dose. That sounds encouraging. How are you feeling about it?
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@jennie23b 3b you can have the Oncotype Dx done anytime after your surgery, even a year or two later, using the specimens that are still stored at the pathology lab.
In my experience, I had to ask a doctor to order it, but I also talked with the pathology lab to make sure the right specimen was sent to the right place. Most people would not do this but I am not a trusting person!
You can call Genomic Health, the company that makes the test, for advice. Maybe your doc did it???
https://www.breastcancer.org/research-news/more-proof-oncotype-dx-predicts-recurrence
"The Oncotype DX DCIS test is a genomic test that analyzes the activity of a group of genes that can affect how DCIS is likely to behave and respond to treatment. The test is performed on a sample of DCIS tissue. The Oncotype DX DCIS test offers results as a recurrence score."