Mansfield Hospital Slashes Time It Takes To Get Results of Critical Test in Breast Cancer Treatment

Imagine finding out you have breast cancer. You have a scheduled surgery to remove the tumor, head home for recovery, and wait to hear what's next.

Do you have remaining cancerous cells? Will your treatment require chemotherapy or radiation? These are questions patients typically wait weeks to hear the answers to. The OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital Cancer Team came together to change that. 

“We created reflex testing,” said Laura Avery MD, general surgeon and cancer liaison physician at Mansfield Hospital. “So now when the pathologist receives the specimen, they can look at the criteria under the supervision of the surgeon and they’re able to send off that test. Then, we’re able to get it much sooner.”

The test Dr. Avery is referring to is the Oncotype DX Test. 

It's a test that determines the likelihood of recurrence in hormone-receptor positive breast cancer and determines a patient's course of treatment after surgery. 

Historically, it takes weeks for patients to get their results, having to meet with an oncologist before the test is even submitted.

Now, a pathologist sends off the test before that first follow-up appointment and patients are getting a result an average of 11 days sooner. 

“That was just a period of time that created a lot of anxiety for that patient,” said Dr. Avery. “And that was our concern. We wanted to make sure they were getting to their next step in treatment in a timely manner, whether that be radiation therapy, or getting to chemotherapy.”

For patients like Molly McCue, knowing what the rest of your cancer treatment looks like meant everything. 

“My local oncologist here at OhioHealth was quick to call me to give me the good news, that my score was low,” said McCue. “It was a five, and I did not need the chemotherapy. So, I was grateful for that.”

McCue was diagnosed with Stage One Invasive Ductal Carcinoma in her right breast back in 2021. She waited two weeks to hear the results of her Oncotype DX Test, but she's comforted knowing breast cancer patients at Mansfield Hospital moving forward will know sooner. 

“The unknown is the worst,” said McCue. “The sooner you can have a path of treatment and that information needed to know that, the better.”

Another way Mansfield Hospital is improving the experience of the patient, while continuing to provide that same expert care.