New Breast Cancer Treatment Guidelines Recommend Test To Personalize Treatment (NAPSA)—Whenfaced with the diagnosis of breast cancer, many womenwill undergo chemotherapy following surgery to reduce the chanceof cancer returning. For those women, the dilemma of facing chemotherapyor dealing with the possibility that their cancer could return is overwhelming, even with a doctor’s help. Many women believe that chemotherapy is a required element of treatment. But research shows that only four out of every 100 women with Stage 1 breast cancer actually benefit from chemotherapy. Now, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the world’s leading professional organization representing physicians who treat cancer patients, has issued new Clinical Practice Guidelines that for the first time include molecular diagnostics in treatment planning to help make these difficult decisions easier. ASCO’s updated guidelines, which outline appropriate cancer treatment methods, recommend a breast cancer test called Oncotype DX” to calculate the likelihood that cancer could return and the benefit of using chemotherapy for a large portion of early-stage breast cancer patients. By using this test, women andtheir doctors can make a more informed decision about whether the potential benefit of chemotherapy outweighstheside effects. “ASCO’s new guidelines include only markers based on proven clinical decision-making impact and high levels of clinical validation,” said Dr. Gabriel N. Hortobagyi, FACP, professor and chairman, Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. “While exciting research and multiple prognostic tools are available today, Oncotype DX is the only genomic test with sufficient clinical evidence to support its use in clinical practice.” Oncotype DX looks at 21 genes Patients with a Recurrence Scoreof 10 in the clinicalvalidation study had an Average Rate ofDistant Re at 10 years of 7% (95%Cl: 5%-9%) Oncotype DX analyzes a specific set of genes within a woman’s individual tumor to measure whether her cancer will return following treatment, as well as her response to chemotherapy. in a woman’s tumortissue to calculate a Recurrence Score”, an individualized number between 0 and 100. The lower the score, the lower the chances are that a woman's breast cancer will come back, and the less likely that she will benefit from chemotherapy. “T felt confident in Oncotype DX because the result was based on 21 genes from my tumor,” said Penny Smith, a breast cancer patient who decided against chemotherapy after receiving a low RecurrenceScore. “I felt that I was getting good information and it was going to give me back control over fighting my cancer.” Oncotype DX is used for patients with estrogen receptor-positive, node-negative, early-stage breast cancer—approximately half of newly diagnosed cases. It is the only test with extensive clinical evidence demonstrating the ability to identify patients who will benefit from chemotherapy. For more information about treatment decisions for breast cancer, visit www.MyTreatment Decision.com.
