The latest advancement in cancer treatment is going to make some women happy.
Many women with early stage breast cancer may be able to skip chemotherapy. A new study by Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York finds a gene test has been guiding doctors on whether women need chemo if they are in the early stages of breast cancer and it hasn't spread. A low test score means patients can forgo the treatment, as well as its toxic side effects, while a high score means women would greatly benefit.
Here’s how it works: the test is on a tumor sample and will help doctors know if controlling or stopping estrogen production is needed, If so, no chemo. About 70-percent of patients will be able to forgo the toxic treatment.
For years, doctors were unsure how to treat women who fell in the middle range of the scoring system. Now, research on more than ten-thousand patients finds those mid-range women can safely be spared chemotherapy without affecting survival.
Source: New York Times