Press Date: 02/04/2010

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It's a big step in the fight against breast cancer. Imagine being able to skip chemotherapy-a genetic test is helping doctors predict which patients can do it.

At 65, Myra Hartman is right in the middle of a fight with breast cancer, spotted early thanks to a routine mammogram. But it didn't really hit her that she had breast cancer until she was waiting for some very important test results.

"When it really occurred to me was that three weeks that I was waiting on test results from the Oncotype Dx test."

The Oncotype Dx test is a genetic test. It looks at 21 different genes and it helps doctors figure out who will most likely see a reoccurrence of their cancer and this is the biggie, who can avoid chemotherapy.

"In the past we've had in a sense guess"

Medical Oncologist, Dr. Tom Sweeney says it divides patients into three groups: high, intermediate and low risk.

"The high-risk patient we clearly direct toward chemotherapy and the low-risk patient direct away from chemotherapy."

Myra says on a scale of 0 to 100 she scored a 10-low risk for reoccurrence.

"I scored 10 and of course when I told that to my children they said 'well mom we always knew you were a 10. So that helped with a decision not to chemotherapy."

Myra sat down with her doctor and they mapped out a plan of surgery and radiation. The test is designed for women with smaller tumors; so it's not for every breast cancer patient, but for Myra it means skipping chemotherapy and those horrible side effects.

"I feel like I'm really blessed."