I am a 55 year old, post menopausal woman. my er and pr are positive and her2 is negative. i have been diagnosed with stage t1n0m0 breast cancer, my tumor being 1.2 cm big. can chemo be avoided?

Yes: Small stage one breast cancer - your prognosis is very good. Keep in touch with your surgeon and oncologist and you should do well.

The T-1-c: Stage means it is bigger than some. Clear indication for anti-hormone (tamoxifen/anastrazole). I might consider oncotype testing tissue to discern benefit from chemo, but if you would not take it regardless of results, don't waste your money.

Need Oncotype-Dx: While your prognosis is excellent, we know that some women with your stage may benefit from traditional chemotherapy in addition to an aromatase inhibitor. Nowadays, we are moving towards molecular staging over anatomic staging; oncotype-dx is a multi-gene assay that can provide information regarding your probability of recurrence; if it is high, traditional chemo will be recommended.

Possibly: I would recommend discussing this in detail with your medical oncologist. Being a stage one it is unlikely that chemo will be required as long as the tumor has been adequately removed surgically. Stage one breast cancer is a potentially very curable stage with the proper treatment.