CBS 2: Study Suggests Millions of Breast Cancer Patients Could Safely Avoid Chemotherapy
CBS 2 recently interviewed Farin Amersi, MD, a breast surgical oncologist at Cedars-Sinai, about a study from the United Kingdom indicating that a DNA-based test may help identify breast cancer patients who could safely avoid chemotherapy.
Amersi, who was not involved with the study, told CBS LA Mornings co-hosts Jamie Yuccas and Sheba Turk that researchers used a test that analyzes gene expression to estimate the likelihood of cancer recurrence and chemotherapy benefit in more than 4,400 high-risk breast cancer patients, including those with large tumors or lymph node involvement.
Based on the results, women deemed unlikely to benefit from chemotherapy instead received hormone therapy, and their outcomes were comparable with those who underwent chemotherapy.
Amersi said some women could safely avoid chemotherapy now, thanks to tests like these, adding that a similar test used in the U.S. analyzes gene expression in breast tumors and can “help predict more from a personalized standpoint whether chemotherapy is truly beneficial to these patients or not.”
Amersi told Yuccas and Turk the study focused on estrogen-positive breast cancers—meaning the cancer thrives on estrogen—for which hormone-blocking therapy already is an alternative to chemotherapy.
“It’s not that they wouldn’t get any treatment,” she said. “Instead, they would be taking an antiestrogen pill for five years to prevent the cancer from coming back.”
Amersi added that chemotherapy remains necessary for patients with estrogen-negative breast cancer.
She also discussed screening guidelines, telling Yuccas and Turk that women at average risk should “be getting a screening mammogram every year starting at 40. That’s standard of care.”
Women with dense breasts also can receive screening ultrasounds. Those at high risk, such as women who test positive for BRCA gene mutations, should receive MRIs in addition to mammograms, Amersi said.
Watch the complete segment from CBS 2.