After study, cancer doctors take chemo off table for some local patients
Women with hormonepositive breast tumors but clean lymph nodes don’t need chemotherapy
Local doctors treating breast cancer have been able to take chemotherapy off the table for some patients after a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine showed many with early-stage cancer don’t need it.
Scientists tested the cancer in more than 10,000 patients starting in 2016, finding that women with breast cancer that has not yet spread to their lymph nodes and is hormone-positive — fueled by estrogen or progesterone — did not benefit from adding chemotherapy to hormone treatments and surgery.
The study, presented last Sunday at an American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago, refines a commonly used genetic test called Oncotype DX, which estimates the risk that a cancer will recur. The subjects included breast cancer patients both at the Smilow Cancer Hospital Care Center in Waterford and in the Hartford HealthCare hospital system, which includes The William W. Backus Hospital.
It determined that most women whose tumor biopsies fall in a middle range on the test’s 0-100 scale — about 60,000 people a year in the United States — did not benefit from chemo and recovered just as well with only surgery and hormone therapy.
Dr. Kathleen Kurowski, the medical director of the breast health program at Backus, said the breast cancer medical community anxiously had been awaiting the results of the study, which the Associated Press reported was funded by the National Cancer Institute, some foundations and proceeds from the U.S. breast cancer postage stamp.
“It really shows that most of them did not benefit from chemotherapy on top of the hormone treatment,” she said.
Chris, a 67-year-old woman who asked to be identified by only her first name because she has been private about her breast cancer diagnosis, underwent a biopsy on the small tumor in her breast last month and learned the results of the genetic test at an appointment with Dr. Jane Kanowitz at the Smilow center on Tuesday.
The tumor biopsy scored a 21 on the genetic test, right in the middle of what until last week was a “gray area” in the spectrum that helps decide
“A week ago I would have discussed with her that there’s a small benefit by adding chemo, and if we wanted to be aggressive and cover every base, it’s a discussion worth having. Today, with that information being presented ... I was very comfortable saying, ‘Great news, there’s no additional benefit by adding in chemotherapy.’” DR. JANE KANOWICZ, SMILOW CANCER CENTER
New York — A federal judge on Saturday temporarily blocked the deportation of a New York pizza shop worker to his native Ecuador after he was arrested while making a delivery to a Brooklyn Army base.
Attorneys for The Legal Aid Society obtained the temporary stay for Pablo Villavicencio after a hearing in Manhattan federal court.
The 35-year-old married father of two young girls was arrested on June 1 while making a delivery to the garrison in Fort Hamilton. A routine background check revealed there was a warrant for his arrest for immigration law violations.
Federal Judge Alison Nathan granted the stay until July 20. Villavicencio will remain in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in New Jersey until his case goes to court.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had asked federal homeland security officials to look into the case, saying recent detentions raise significant legal questions.
In a letter to the ICE office in New York, the Democrat said Villavicencio’s “expedited removal serves no legitimate public safety purpose and the circumstances leading to his arrest and detention raise serious legal and policy concerns.”
Villavicencio’s wife, Sandra Chica, is an American citizen and their daughters, ages 2 and 3, were born in the U.S.
When he arrived at Fort Hamilton, guards requested identification and he produced a city identification card. A background check showed that Villavicencio had been ordered to leave the United States in 2010, but stayed.
Redmond Haskins, a spokesman for The Legal Aid Society, a not-for-profit organization that provides free services to clients who cannot afford them, said Villavicencio has no criminal record.
Haskins said attorneys worked through the night preparing the emergency stay request that was argued in court on Saturday afternoon.
“Although we are disappointed that Pablo will remained detained, today’s stay is a victory for him and his family, and also for due process and the fair administration of justice,” said Gregory Copeland, the supervising attorney of Legal Aid’s Immigration Law Unit. “This decision is also a reminder that the judiciary can still serve as a powerful check when other branches of government make hasty, cruel and reckless decisions.”
The attorneys said they will work with Villavicencio to help him secure valid immigration status.