Posted on 09/18/2022 4:10:10 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
Women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer often can choose to have a lumpectomy, which removes only cancerous tissue and a thin margin of surrounding healthy cells instead of the entire breast. Current cancer guidelines for most women under 65 recommend following lumpectomy with radiation therapy, which targets stray cancer cells that might otherwise cause breast cancer to recur or spread to other parts of the body.
A new study could eventually expand an option for skipping radiation to some women as young as 55.
The new evidence suggests that younger women with tumor features similar to those described above might also be able to forego radiation without raising their odds of recurrence. Instead, they would take endocrine therapy for five years.
The study involved 500 women ages 55 and older with early-stage breast cancers similar to established criteria for skipping radiation during treatment. It also allowed women to enroll if the margin of normal breast tissue removed was very thin (only 1 millimeter or larger). The analysis used an extra test on tumor cells removed during lumpectomy to confirm that they were slow-growing.
Over an average follow-up of five years, the study revealed that the rate of breast cancer recurrence in the same breast was 2.3% in women who skipped radiation after lumpectomy and took endocrine blockers instead—the same rate expected with radiation use, which was impressive, Dr. Tung says. "Most recurrences will happen within five years."
The study's results are considered preliminary, and further well-vetted research is needed to confirm its results. An additional barrier makes it difficult to translate these trial results to clinical practice: the reliability of the test used in the study to demonstrate that the cancers were slow-growing––called Ki67––varies, and many hospitals don't routinely use it to assess breast tumors.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
Radiation creates a whole new/different set of problems 7+ years after the fact.
I will get that sign changed.
Thank you!
Oh great. I just finished 15 radiation treatments and I’m stb 62.
When I was a resident at Sloan Kettering (1976-79), one of the most important questions in breast cancer was, “Is the disease systemic from the start, or is it first local and then spreads?”
I did not become an oncologist, but I have followed this story with great interest.
The bottom line is GROUPS of women who have local removal (lumpectomy) with SOME TYPE of systemic therapy (radiation, chemotherapy, or hormones - and maybe mRNA vaccines) live longer and remain disease free longer that women who have surgery only.
Obviously, each patient is an individual, it is not “hopeless” to have a lumpectomy only - but playing the odds involves some additional treatment to kill cancer cells that spread through the body while the “lump” was too small to feel.
Back in the day, the superstar breast cancer doctors were all surgeons, and their ability ranking was in part about how much tissue they could safely remove (Halstead radical mastectomy + other). This is no longer the case.
” An additional barrier makes it difficult to translate these trial results to clinical practice: the reliability of the test used in the study to demonstrate that the cancers were slow-growing––called Ki67––varies, and many hospitals don’t routinely use it to assess breast tumors.”
The reliability of the test...varies...” That is not reassuring to the young woman facing a tough decision.
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