SARASOTA (WSNN) – If you had the option to skip chemotherapy, would you? A new study confirms more women with breast cancer can.
“I was long time undiagnosed,” Sarasota resident, Aleksandra Djilis said. “I was feeling something was not right for me.”
In 2015, Aleksandra Djilis was diagnosed with Stage two breast cancer at age 42. Doctors had to remove a three-centimeter tumor from her breasts.
“Because of my family history, I just chose to do a double mastectomy to remove everything and not think about it anymore,” Djilis said.
One out of every eight women is diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.S.
“Out of stage one and stage two, 25-percent of women have cancer that goes from breast to lymph nodes,” Ohio Health breast cancer surgeon Dr. Deepa Halaharvi said. “Up until now the treatment for this type of cancer was chemotherapy.”
If you’re facing this diagnosis, you have the option to get a personalized test called Oncotype DX.
“It’s a genomic essay that looks at the tumor biology, and it tells us if someone will benefit from chemotherapy,” Dr. Halaharvi said. “They also will also tell us about the likelihood of cancer coming back.”
This is the option Djilis chose.
“For me, this was the perfect choice,” Djilis said. “I just couldn’t deal with the fatigue, the tiredness, the side effects, that will not go good with me. I have to be on my feet.”
Her score was in the right range to choose to opt-out of chemotherapy.
“If it’s less than 25, then they can omit chemotherapy,” Halaharvi said. “They still would be getting estrogen medication that they would need to take for five years to ten years. That would still protect them in terms of decreasing the risk of cancer coming back.”
It’s a popular test that has been performed on millions of women worldwide.
“It’s proven that it works and gives you accurate information,” Halaharvi said.
Djilis is 48 and cancer-free now.
“Thank God, I’m still good, I’m still here,” Djilis said. “I’m cancer-free still, so that’s a good thing.”
If you are diagnosed with breast cancer and in the process of determining treatment, get a second opinion. For more information, you can click here.