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So how has the Oncotype genetic test helped our patients and changed the way we practice.
This is a useful test, this genetic test, to try to predict the aggressiveness of the
tumor. And I think the real value of this test is that it allows patients to feel much
more comfortable in decisions they have made with active surveillance. Patients that undergo
active surveillance tend to be those that are very low aggressive, lower and intermediate
in aggressiveness in their tumor types. Up to this point, we have only used what the
cells look like and determine what we call the Gleason score in these patients. We now
can dig one level deeper and look at the genetic profile to try to predict what is going to
happen with the aggressiveness of these tumors over a period of time. The Oncotype DX test
is useful in these types of patients, it reconfirms that if you have gone on an active surveillance
protocol and the tumor is a very low aggressive type of tumor, that decision is a good decision
and one that you feel comfortable with making over a period of time.
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 prostate 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.