HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post - Here it is: Circulating tumor cells associated with bad px in EARLY breast cancer

Lani · 08-14-2006, 05:55 PM

This is the first report on CTCs being useful in early breast cancer from what I've seen.

The good news is Quest seems to be a nationwide company and send all their Cell Search samples to the same location in Southern California.

Perhaps you could price the test and see if your oncologist will go for it. He/she will probably say I will order it if it is likely to change your course of treatment. They would then probably say if it is elevated and work-up shows you have metastatic disease you are now in the incurable category and we will only do what will prolong your life but not cure you anyway.

This is the type of thinking I hope we can change by catching metastatic disease when it is so early with so few cells that not enough of them can "change their tune" to avoid the targetted therapies we will hopefully have against them.

08-14-2006, 05:55 PM	#13
Lani Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 4,778	It is really still unknown This is the first report on CTCs being useful in early breast cancer from what I've seen. The good news is Quest seems to be a nationwide company and send all their Cell Search samples to the same location in Southern California. Perhaps you could price the test and see if your oncologist will go for it. He/she will probably say I will order it if it is likely to change your course of treatment. They would then probably say if it is elevated and work-up shows you have metastatic disease you are now in the incurable category and we will only do what will prolong your life but not cure you anyway. This is the type of thinking I hope we can change by catching metastatic disease when it is so early with so few cells that not enough of them can "change their tune" to avoid the targetted therapies we will hopefully have against them.