Breast cancer research continues to unfold

The fight that continues to be waged against breast cancer is valiant, and each year more research continues to be done in order to find better treatment and prevent it from happening.

In August, The Institute of Cancer Research announced that researchers in London had made a breakthrough in a test that could predict the recurrence of breast cancer.

These researchers had analyzed blood samples from 55 women who had tackled and defeated early stage breast cancer. The researchers were intently focused on searching for microscopic pieces of DNA linked to the cancerous tumors that had been surgically removed.

“By tracking that, we can see whether after surgery there is a disease present in that patient that we couldn’t actually detect with our normal imaging approaches,” said Mitch Dowsett, a professor at The Institute of Cancer Research. “It’s far more sensitive, and it’s actually very specific.”

Of the 55 cases tested, 54 were correctly able to predict which patient would relapse and which would not. These researchers said this can assist doctors in being one step ahead of breast cancer, so that their patients can get treatment before the disease spreads.

“This new technique will allow us to begin to measure whether or not that disease is coming through before it actually reveals itself,” Dowsett said.

Other research continues to be undertaken in the breast cancer field, according to the American Cancer Society.

Newer radiation methods are being studied, as well as attempts to find new chemotherapy drugs, especially to wage against advanced breast cancers.

A drug class called “PARP inhibitors” has shown promise in clinical trials treating breast, ovarian and prostate cancers that had spread and that had defeated other treatments.

Treatments and diagnosis methods are not without controversy. The debate continues on when women should start getting mammograms.

The United States Preventive Services Task Force now recommends biennial screening mammograms to begin at age 50, a full decade later than previous recommendations. However, some doctors still argue that this screening should start at age 40.

The common ground for both sides is that the decision should be left up to the patient and that she should take her family history into account, as well as any other genetic factors that may play a role.