What are my chances of needing chemotherapy?

Hi, Betsy, I think it takes about 2 weeks for the Oncotype DX test results to come back, and that's when you'll be able to know if chemo may be beneficial or not. It's hard to know before having those results what the chance will be. I hope you are recovering well.

Most days were not bad, yesterday I had one of the drains removed and I am in a lot of pain today. They also put some antibacterial solution in the tissue exspander. The needle was really large.

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Nina, I have an appointment with an oncologist on May 1st, two weeks to th3 day from my mastectomy, to go over treatment plans I am a bit nervous. I was thinking my breast oncologist would tell me all was well and no chemo was needed.

Hi, Betsy, hopefully your oncologist has all of the results by that time. Mine called me on the day of my appointment to reschedule it for a week later because she didn't have all of the results. I was told to take tylenol before the drain removal, and that helped with the pain. I still have sporadic pain where the drain used to be.

Hi Betsy I had mastectomy 4/10 and they sent off oncotype 4/15 after path was finalized. Still waiting on results too. Hopefully this week. Good luck Betsy.

Thanks for the tip, Nina

I have a 2a with lymph node involvement and my onco score came back under the range where chemo would be of benefit. Fingers crossed for you!!!

Hi Betsy. I had IDC, ILC, and DCIS all in the same tumor which was 5 cm. They only got one lymph node which was clear (did the mapping) my onco score was 23 so right on the cusp but I was afraid to do chemo so only did radiation. I think with anything positive in the lymph they will want to do chemo. They recommended it for me bc of the size of the tumor. The decision is always up to you but I’m glad I didn’t do chemo. Tha being said, my medical oncologist was mad at me but rad and surgery said radiation would be enough. I did the hypofractionated rad that is stronger and shorter duration.

Wendy, I don't what is worse, the waiting or the pain of recovery.

Thanks Julie.

Hi Betsy. Still in a lot of pain from mastectomy too. Waiting is tough. My score came back today and was thankfully low so they said no chemo. It’s all been so overwhelming. Good luck to you.

Wendy and Betsy, yes all the waiting is tough. I had IDS and a 2b cancer score. My Oncotype test came back low, under 25, no chemo. Yay! It took almost 3 weeks to get oncotype results back. I’ll be doing radiation. They didn’t have that test a few years ago (5-10) and did chemo a lot. Now they can determine with this test whether you would benefit from chemo or not. If they don’t have to do chemo they shouldn’t. All of this is hard on our bodies.

Judy S, I had about same as you - 2b, lymph node 2 cancer nodes and all removed. Since my oncotype score was low I will have radiation, no chemo. Can you tell me how many radiation treatments you had?

I had 16 radiations. It was equivalent to five weeks. They up the dose to have a shorter time.

While the decision about chemotherapy depends on several factors that oncology teams carefully evaluate through additional testing, having stage 2a breast cancer with lymph node involvement often does warrant consideration of systemic treatment. The waiting period for test results can feel overwhelming, but this time allows the medical team to run important tests that help determine the most effective treatment plan. Many others in this community have faced similar uncertainty and found it helpful to prepare questions for their next appointment while focusing on recovery from surgery.