Can You Skip Breast Cancer Chemo-Is It Safe?

Breast cancer is every woman’s fear, and the breast cancer treatments result in fear and anxiety. The side effects of chemotherapy are terrifying. Nausea, vomiting, losing your hair all of them will cause stress and feelings of discomfort. The sad fact is, thousands of women experience chemotherapy and may not need it. Doctors are unwilling to take a gamble on which women will benefit from chemotherapy and which ones will not. The cruel drugs are frightening, but the hope of cancer returning or spreading is scarier.

Chemotherapy Tests

In the news are, new tests that will help a woman make the choice between having chemotherapy and not. Groups of 10,000 women around the country are being asked to sign up in a study to see how well the test does the job. Most patients are advised to have chemotherapy but many women can do well without it. A simple gene test promises to help find out which patients need chemotherapy and which ones do not. This simple gene test may be used for early stages of colorectal cancer also.

If this new test proves to be as successful as they think, it will help cancer specialists ascertain which type of genetic therapy will work for each woman. If the tumors are small with hormone-sensitive, which are not spread, a less aggressive form of therapy may be appropriate for some women. One hundred women are recommended for chemotherapy to catch only two or three that has a risk of repetition. Side effects of chemo can be unsafe, harsh and even life threatening.

Oncotype DX Test

The test, called the Oncotype DX test may help prevent over treating the cancer patient. It checks 21 different genes that can guess the chances of recurrence. The interactions of these genes are calculated for odds on a scale rating from zero to one hundred. If the recurrence score is more than 30, chemotherapy is indicated. This improves chances of being cancer free after 10 years from 61 percent to 88 percent. What a progress.

For those patients who scored below 18 on the cancer recurrence score, chemo did not make a difference in their survival rate. There are women who fall into the gray area, between a score of 18-30. Tests are questionable for these women and their doctors may suggest chemotherapy to avoid taking any needless chances.

This new scoring method is not perfect, but may help women and doctors decide if having chemotherapy will develop their chances of being cancer-free after ten years. Patients and doctors will have a new set of guidelines to help resolve if chemotherapy will give the patient a longer life.

Chemotherapy may be an option for cancer patients instead of a requirement. As new improvements in technology and testing are discovered each month, determining if a woman needs chemotherapy may be easier in the future. Oncotype DX is a big stride toward that future. All women hope and pray those advances will soon be available.