Can some postmenopausal women with breast cancer skip chemotherapy?

Breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women. In the last two decades, the treatment of breast cancers has become personalized. This has been possible due to the subtyping of breast cancers. Breast cancers have been subtyped based on the receptors on the breast cancer cell. The most clinically significant receptors — those that have targeted therapies — are the estrogen and progesterone receptors and the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Cancers that have the estrogen and progesterone receptors are termed hormone receptor (HR)-positive cancers. The development of hormone therapy for HR-positive breast cancers means that some women, for whom the risks of chemotherapy outweigh the benefits, may be able to forego chemotherapy. The development of genomic assays, tests that analyze genes expressed in cancer, have provided a way to help doctors and women decide who will obtain the most benefit from chemotherapy. How does genomic testing help to personalize breast cancer treatment? Increasingly detailed knowledge about breast cancers has led to the development of personalized therapy. In addition to knowing the type and stage of your cancer, genomic testing has further refined how we assess the risk of recurrence for breast cancer. One genomic test, Oncotype Dx, is a useful tool that can help predict the likelihood of benefit from chemotherapy, as well as the risk of recurrence for invasive breast cancer. Not all women will require chemotherapy, but fo...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Cancer Medical Research Women's Health Source Type: blogs