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So the Oncotype DX test needs to be ordered by a physician and depending upon the patient's
situation, a physician may suggest it to help make a decision about whether or not the patient
is a candidate for surveillance or if a patient has read about this or heard about this test
and wants to bring it to the attention of his physician and ask about it. That's perfectly
appropriate also. But a patient cannot directly ask to or rather the patient cannot contact
the company and have the test done. The test needs to be ordered by a physician and the
report goes back to the physician and the intent, then, is that the physician and the
patient get together again, discuss the results of the test, and then make a joint decision
about what the best management is. So other forms of Oncotype DX particularly for breast
cancer had been on the market for a long time about 10 years or so. So many physicians are
familiar with the concept of taking tumor material and looking at gene expression to
help manage patients. The prostate Oncotype DX test was only released on the market in
early May of 2013 and so there may be many physicians who are not familiar with the concept
or with a specific test kits. So if a patient knows about it, it is certainly appropriate
to ask their physician about it and help educate the physician about whether or not it is appropriate
for this particular patient's situation to order this test.
Some prostate cancers are high risk, aggressive, and more likely to spread. Others are low
risk, least likely to have bad outcomes. The biopsy says cancer, but current diagnostic
tools provide limited information about how aggressive a man's individual disease is,
so most men decide to treat prostrate cancer immediately. Once treated, many men experience
serious long-term side effects like incontinence and *** impotence. Immediate treatment
is not always needed, but right now a man can't be sure if his cancer is the kind that
is likely to require treatment or if he is okay to wait for now. What if there was a
test that could determine how aggressive prostate cancer is. Genomic health is developing a
new test to do just that. By reviewing the underlying biology of the tumor and using
genes from multiple biologic pathways, the test can predict the aggressiveness of prostate
cancer when diagnosed, allowing a man to make a more informed treatment decision with confidence,
taking care of himself with more information and greater peace of mind.