Study Finds Many Breast Cancer Patients Could Avoid Chemo

Adjuvant Chemo in Breast Ca:  The phase 3 TAILORx trial used a genetic test called Oncotype DX to determine what the risk of recurrence women had after surgical resection of early breast cancer. The trial spilt women whose tumour Oncotype DX score was in the middle range (11-25) into two groups- those that only did hormone blockade after surgery, and those that did chemotherapy and hormone blockade. The results show that there was no difference in outcomes for the two groups, and therefore if the genetic scoring of a breast tumour is indeterminate there is no added benefit to doing chemotherapy.

The author of the Dr. Joseph Sparano, is quoted as saying “Chemotherapy may be avoided in about 70% of women with hormone-receptor positive, HER2 negative, and axillary node negative breast cancer.”

See the full results of the trial article here: Download

NBC News story on the subject.
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Lindsay Adrian, ND