Women with tumors scoring 10 or lower (15.9 percent of participants) on the test were given hormone therapy (tamoxifen) but not chemotherapy.
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As the test predicted, after five years, 99 percent of women who avoided chemo had no recurrence of cancer.
The researchers, led by Dr. Joseph Sparano of Montefiore Medical Center in New York, presented their study at the European Cancer Congress in Austria.
In the meantime, we still don’t know how many of breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy are actually benefiting from the treatment-and how many could be spared that ordeal without changing their chances of recovery.
In a study published Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine, a group of cancer researchers got a rare kind of result: one that was way, way better than they had expected.
While there could be false-positive readings from a mammogram that could lead to additional screening and biopsies, the potential for diagnosing breast cancer early is important, Planeta said.
Normally, doctors would treat this type of breast cancer with surgery and hormone-blocking treatments, but they might also prescribe chemotherapy in case any cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body.
The study which observed more than 100 children who were exposed to cancer treatment during the last two trimesters of women’s pregnancy.
New studies provide evidence that information from the Oncotype DX genomic breast cancer test should be included in treatment decisions, according to test developer Genomic Health. However, future studies on the tests may help to lower its price along with increased efficiency. These women were randomly assigned to receive either hormone therapy plus chemotherapy or hormone therapy alone.
The children in the study born to mothers who were treated for cancer in the second and third trimester developed normally.
But independent monitors recommended the results on the low-risk group be released, because it was clear that adding chemo would not improve their fate.
This standard treatment has lowered death rates among breast cancer patients by more than 33 percent since the 1980s. We believe that this reflects the efficacy of Oncotype DX in enabling patients to avoid unnecessary chemotherapy treatment.
A team of scientists found a way to determine the risk of breast cancer in patients with the help of a gene activity test. The test is very accurate.
Pregnant women battling cancer “do not need a termination and can start treatment immediately without worrying unduly about the effects of drugs or radiation on their unborn babies”, Reuters reported. “I’ve had chemotherapy. It’s not pretty”.
“Dr. Karen Beckerman, a New York City obstetrician diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011, said she was advised to have chemo but feared complications”.
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The test costs around $4,000 and doctors say most insurers are happy to cover the cost.
