The study enrolled 10,253 women, all of whom had early stage breast cancer that hadn’t spread to their lymph nodes.
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A test of breast cancer tumors can reliably identify those that are less aggressive and susceptible to hormone-based drug therapy, researchers find.
They were followed closely for the next five years, and researchers found that there was less than a 2 percent risk of their cancer spreading to other organs. A few women at an early-stage breast cancer can skip chemotherapy after gene-activity test, the study added.
Genomic Health Inc.GHDX recently announced the initial results of a multi-center trial named T rial A ssigning I ndividua L ized O ptions for Treatment (Rx), or TAILORx, which validated the clinical utility of Genomic’s Oncotype DX test to risk-classify patients suffering from early stage breast cancer.
Clifford Hudis of New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said that there is no evidence which proves that chemotherapy could make that number better.
Dr. Mertens said that most patients are trusting in doctors and this research, and do believe that in this case, more isn’t always the best option. “The test provides us with greater certainty of who can safely avoid chemotherapy”.
Nearly two-thirds of the women delivered earlier than 37 weeks, most due to induced labor so that the cancer treatments could continue. Researchers who have studied Oncotype DX in the past have tracked women’s outcomes, confirming that the link between genetics and recurrence is a reliable one.
The team plans to detail the study’s findings September 29 at an annual meeting of cancer experts in Europe and publish them online in the New England Journal of Medicine.
After the women were given the gene test, those with scores of 10 or lower-about 15.9% of the women-received the standard hormone pill therapy, but did not undergo chemo. So the researchers assessed the hearts of 47 of the 129 children in the study using electrocardiography and echocardiography. Based on their numbers they can be categorized as low, intermediate or high risk.
This standard treatment has lowered death rates among breast cancer patients by more than 33 percent since the 1980s. Women with tumors scoring 10 or lower (15.9 percent of participants) on the test were given hormone therapy (tamoxifen) but not chemotherapy.
“Dr. Karen Beckerman, a New York City obstetrician diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011, said she was advised to have chemo but feared complications”.
The Oncotype DX test has been available as a laboratory test since 2004, and its $4,175 cost is covered by Medicare and many insurance companies.
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Others besides Oncotype are on the market and that’s considered good news as well.
