Tens of thousands of breast cancer patients could safely go without radiation therapy after their tumor has been removed, a new study argues.
Gene testing helped doctors identify a group of women who skipped radiation therapy because their cancer showed very low risk of coming back following surgery, according to findings presented Tuesday at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology , held in Chicago.The patients had a little more than 2% risk of their breast cancer returning, said study leader Dr. Timothy Joseph Whelan, chair of breast cancer research at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Previous studies in women over 70 years of age found that their risk of recurrence was 4% to 5%, according to an ASCO news release. These findings suggest the risk is even lower in younger women with luminal-A breast cancer. Women had their tumors surgically removed, and then began taking hormone therapy to reduce levels of estrogen in their bodies.