
Because waiting for—and understanding—your cancer test results can be stressful, Exact Sciences makes understanding your
Your doctor will get your results in approximately two weeks after your tumour sample arrives at the Exact Sciences laboratory. The results provide a score between 0-100 that indicates how likely your cancer is to return and predicts how beneficial chemotherapy will be for you.1-5 You and your doctor can discuss the score (along with supporting information provided) and how it affects your treatment plan.

The score is a number between 0-100. A low score means the cancer has a lower chance of returning and you have a lower chance of benefiting from chemotherapy. A high score means the cancer has a higher chance of returning and you have a higher chance of benefiting from chemotherapy. For example, patients with a high score often choose more aggressive treatment options including chemotherapy, than patients with low scores.
It is important to understand that a low score result does not mean there is no chance that your breast cancer will return. And, a high score result does not mean that your breast cancer will definitely return. So, your treatment decisions still depend on your unique situation and personal preferences.


Many women who received high Recurrence Score results were able to choose chemotherapy as a potentially life-saving treatment. The majority of women who received low Recurrence Score results were able to effectively pursue hormonal therapy alone and avoid the unnecessary side effects of chemotherapy.6-13
The Breast Recurrence Score test is a genomic test—it looks at the activity of your tumour’s genes. Your score is based on the behavior of specific genes from tumour tissue removed during the surgery to remove your tumour. Looking at this unique set of cancer-related genes—how they act and how they are expressed—provides information about how likely your cancer is to return. Learn more about
References
- Paik et al. N Engl J Med. 2004.
- Paik et al. N Engl J Med. 2006.
- Kim et al. J Clin Oncol. 2011.
- Albain et al. Lancet Oncol. 2010.
- Dowsett et al. J Clin Oncol. 2010.
- Sparano et al. N Engl J Med. 2015.
- Gluz et al. J Clin Oncol. 2016.
- Stemmer et al. SABCS 2015.
- Petkov et al. npj Breast Cancer. 2016.
- Shak et al. ASCO QCS 2016.
- Stemmer et al. ESMO 2016.
- Roberts et al. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2017.
- Shak et al. ESMO 2016.
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