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Improving Outcomes for Breast Cancer Patients
After following breast cancer patients for six years after an experimental
aggressive treatment,
researchers at Duke University Medical Center identified factors that lead
to better outcomes
for some patients. They believe their findings may help other doctors determine
which breast
cancer patients would benefit most from the aggressive therapy. Their research
appears in the
October issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Researchers reviewed the records from a previous study of 425 patients
with metastatic breast
cancer (cancer that had spread) who received treatment approximately six
years earlier. Their
treatment was an experimental mix of high-dose chemotherapy followed by
bone marrow transplant.
It's a controversial treatment because of its high toxicity and the limited
amount of clinical trials
comparing it to standard treatments.
Researchers found patients most likely to respond well to this aggressive
therapy had
the following characteristics:
They previously received hormone therapy with the drug tamoxifen but had
not received
chemotherapy.
Tumors had not spread beyond the chest wall and lymph nodes.
Currently, patients with metastatic breast cancer are monitored for symptoms.
If a problem or
symptoms develop, doctors run tests to find the cause. Instead, researchers
conclude, these high-risk
patients should be followed very closely with routinely scheduled exams,
including diagnostic tests
such as lab work and X-rays. The point, they say, is to catch the disease
early, before symptoms
appear, and hit it hard using aggressive therapy. Source:
Duke University
