onco Dx???

[Alice]

I have heard of what is called onco type Dx and I was wondering if anyone can explain it in detail to me? From what I understand it is a kind of rateing for chances of recurrance.

[Hopeful]

Alice,

Here is a link to the website of the lab that developed the test: http://www.genomichealth.com/ Their consumer information is pretty good, and they have an interactive version of the score sheet you can plug numbers into.

Hopeful

[Susan McQ]

I read it is for ER+ node negative breast cancer.

[mjz]

oncotypedx is a test done on a bit of your tumor that helps give you an idea of the risk that you will have a recurrance - not locally- butin a distant site- mets- within the next ten years. this test only holds for stage 1 and stage 2 node negative breast cancers who will be treated with tamoxifen for 5 yrs. the scores range from 1 to 17 "low risk" 18-31 "intermediate risk"... my onc ordered this test for me- he felt that it is fair to expect a bit better prognosis if using arimidex- and hope that herceptin- tho given without chemo- would lower my risk another 50% on top of that. in my reading I came across the idea that 18 and over- as a rule of thumb in practice- will be recommended to hav chemo. there is currently a trial- tailorx- to study women with scores of 11 to 22(?) to try to find a meaningful guideline for chemo, but this trial excludes her2 !? my score was 17- i thought most her2 scores were high.... I called genomic health... a doc there told me the previous week a woman with her2 had a score of 5....... did you have the test done?

[mjz]

forgot to say- yes only for hormone+---also forgive my typing

[Hopeful]

Here is a link to an interview with Dr. Paik, inventor of the Oncotype test, discussing new tools for predicting bc recurrence: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/554017_print

Hopeful