In an article published in the New York Times, June 4, 2018, a new study has revealed that many women with early-stage breast cancer who would receive chemotherapy under current standards do not actually need it.
Doctor Ingrid A. Mayer from Vanderbilt University stated in the article that thousands of women can be spared from getting toxic treatment that really would not benefit them. This study, according to Doctor Mayer, will change the standard of care for those women with breast cancer.
The study found that gene tests on tumor samples were able to identify women who could safely skip chemotherapy and take only a drug which blocks the hormone, estrogen, or stops the body from making it. The hormone-blocking drug, tamoxifen, and related medicines, called endocrine therapy, have become an essential part of treatment for most women because they lower the risks of recurrence, new breast tumors and death from the disease.
The findings apply to about 60,00 women a year in the United States, according to Doctor Joseph A. Sparano of Montefiore Medical Center in New York, leader of the study.
" The results indicated that we can spare chemotherapy in about 70 percent of patients who would be potential candidates for it based on clinical features. "
But Doctors Sparano and Mayer added a note of caution: the data indicated that some women 50 and younger might benefit from chemo even if gene-testing results suggested otherwise. It is not clear why, but these women require especially careful attention. The median age at diagnosis in the United States is 61.
The study, called TAILORx, is being published by the New England Journal of Medicine.
For more read the New York Times article dated Monday, June 4, 2018.
