Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
The Oncotype DX test is ideally suited for men with low-grade prostate cancer that are
interested in active surveillance. We want to know by looking at the inner workings and
the genetic structure of these lower grade cancer cells if these cells will indeed behave
like lower grade prostate cancer. So, we'll get the score, and that score will let us
know whether these cancer cells will behave like a Gleason 6 or whether they are going
to behave like a lower volume Gleason 7 through 3 plus 4, or whether they are going to behave
like a higher volume 4 plus 3 or even a Gleason 8, 9 or 10. It's important that we know this.
We take risks with active surveillance and those risks are low. But this test, the Oncotype
DX test, should decrease the risk of us missing any cancers that could potentially behave
more aggressively that don't look as aggressive from a pure pathologic diagnosis. At the end
of the day, the Oncotype DX test is ideally suited for men interested in active surveillance
and who also want to know more information about their prostate cancer such that they
can sleep better at night knowing that this indeed is a lower grade cancer and has a less
chance of growing while we're following that cancer very closely.
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.