New system can predict chemo outcome

Washington, Feb. 12: Scientists have developed a new system that can non- invasively identify which breast cancer patients will respond to chemotherapy within two weeks of beginning treatment.

The system generates 3D images of both breasts simultaneously, and enables the researchers to look at blood flow in the breasts, see how the vasculature changes, and how the blood interacts with the tumour.

“There is currently no method that can predict treatment outcome of chemotherapy early on in treatment, so this is a major advance,” said Andreas Hielscher, professor at Columbia University in the US.

“This helps us distinguish malignant from healthy tissue and tells us how the tumour is responding to chemotherapy earlier than other imaging techniques can,” said Hielscher.

Neoadjuv ant chemotherapy, given for five to six months before surgery, is the standard treatment for some women with newly diagnosed invasive, but operable, breast cancer.

The aim of neoadjuvant chemotherapy is to eliminate active cancer cells - producing a complete response - before surgery.

Those who achieve a complete response have a lower risk of cancer recurrence than those who do not.

However, fewer than half of women treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy achieve a complete response.

“Patients who respond to neoadjuvant chemotherapy have better outcomes than those who do not, so determining early in treatment who is going to be more likely to have a complete response is important,” said Dawn Hershman, leader of the Breast Cancer Programme at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center in the US.

“If we know early that a patient is not going to respond to the treatment they are getting, it may be possible to change treatment and avoid side effects,” said Hershman.