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Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC): Anyone else?

Breast Cancer | Last Active: Mar 24 10:10am | Replies (223)

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@polianad22

@windyshores You mentioned that the Oncotype test is done for 1 - 3 positive sentinel nodes. Would you mind sharing where you found this information?

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Replies to "@windyshores You mentioned that the Oncotype test is done for 1 - 3 positive sentinel nodes...."

@polianad22 the info on Oncotype for 1-3 nodes is honestly all over the place. Here is just one:
https://www.oncolink.org/cancers/breast/screening-diagnosis/the-oncotype-r-dx-breast-recurrence-score#:~:text=The%20Oncotype%C2%AE%20DX%20test%20is%20mainly%20used%20in,negative%20or%20you%20can%20have%201-3%20positive%20nodes.
"Who should have this test?" One factor:
"The stage of your cancer is I, II, or IIIA.
Your lymph nodes can be negative or you can have 1-3 positive nodes."

I had the OncotypeDX for a Stage 1A tumor with a clean sentinel lymph node biopsy. Allowing the sentinel lymph node biopsy (which I was first disinclined to have), and the OncotypeDX, were the two best decisions I made when first faced with a bad mammogram, ultrasound and vacuum-assisted-wide-needle biopsy that showed cancer.

Those two tests were reassuring about likely recurrence risk, as were some of the online algorithms and consults with a few oncologists, and were the foundation upon which I made subsequent decisions. So I encourage anyone dealing with breast cancer to explore any tests that might provide useful data. None of this stuff is perfect but if all the data combined helps provide a defensible picture of the overall whole situation, as mine did, it helps a lot. And any statistical outliers can trigger further evaluation of a prognosis or treatment plan and that's also valuable.