Aussie diagnostic test points to better breast cancer treatment

Source: Xinhua| 2019-06-29 09:07:12|Editor: xuxin
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SYDNEY, June 29 (Xinhua) -- A new diagnostic test may soon determine if a breast cancer patient requires chemotherapy or will not benefit from the treatment, according to the latest Australian research.

The test, developed at the University of Queensland (UQ), could result in "tailored treatment for those diagnosed with invasive lobular breast cancer," UQ Center for Clinical Research scientist Dr. Amy McCart Reed said in a statement late Friday.

"Using gene profiling, we can identify which patients are unlikely to need chemotherapy," McCart Reed said.

"It means we could protect a significant amount of patients from enduring needless chemotherapy."

Invasive lobular breast cancer is the second most common type of breast cancer, with 2,000 Australian women diagnosed every year, according to the university.

Patients may initially respond well to treatment but they often return years later with a terminal spread of the disease, it said.

"It is very hard to tell at diagnosis which patients will do well from those who will not be so lucky, which means chemotherapy may be prescribed," McCart Reed said.

"In this study, we pulled together a set of 194 genes that, when working together, act as a signature to help clarify which patients are likely to have a positive outcome with their breast cancer," she said.

"If they have a low-risk signature score, it means we might relieve them of the burden of chemotherapy," said McCart Reed whose latest findings were published in the NPJ Breast Cancer research journal.

"If they have a high-risk signature score, we could continue to recommend chemotherapy as the course of treatment."

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