Patients with early-stage breast cancer may not have to go through chemotherapy thanks to a new test

Newly approved test could help women avoid chemotherapy treatment

Sep 26 2013

The NHS will now be able to offer a test to residents of England Wales that could mean thousands of women are able to avoid going through chemotherapy. Women that are diagnosed with early stage breast cancer could now be spared gruelling chemotherapy treatments thanks to a newly approved test, which works out the likelihood of tumours spreading.

Cancer charities have welcomed the approval, which was granted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), as large numbers of women could now avoid having to undergo the difficult form of treatment for their cancer.

The Oncotype DX test looks at some of the genes that are taken from a tumour once it has been removed from the patient. Testing of the genes allows doctors to assess the possibility of the cancer returning and of tumours spreading to other areas of the body. Those patients that are deemed to have low chances of this happening could then be saved from having to undergo a treatment, which induces unpleasant symptoms, including hair loss, nausea and insomnia.

Around 50,000 people in the UK each year are diagnosed with breast cancer, the majority of which have the early-stage of the disease. The new test will allow doctors to make an informed decision as to whether or not chemotherapy is truly recommended for these patients, while also getting a better idea of the chances of the disease returning.

It will not be the test on its own that decides whether a patient should undergo chemotherapy. The grade and size of the tumour will also be a factor in the decision, in order to ensure the patient gets the best possible course of treatment to beat the disease.

Professor Carole Longson from NICE said: "Breast cancer patients face significant emotional and psychological strain when considering chemotherapy.

"A test that can help to predict better the risk of the breast cancer spreading, and therefore the potential likely benefit of additional chemotherapy, represents a significant step forward for patients."