Breast Cancer Treatment - How To Judge Its Success

Breast cancer trials and treatment is not limited to North America. A University of Edinburgh scientist has developed new procedures to measure the affect of radiation therapy after breast cancer surgery. New procedures can help doctors decide who would benefit from receiving radiation therapy as a follow-up to breast cancer surgery. These new techniques will allow doctors to check tissue samples from breast cancer surgeries to decide who should receive further radiation therapy.

A new trial to be conducted internationally will follow 3700 women to discover the benefits of radiation therapy in women who have a medium risk of recurrence. The study will also follow this group of women to find out if there is a long-term risk of heart damage for those who have undergone radiation therapy. Their goal is to discover if radiation therapy is necessary for those women who are rated as low risk for recurrence of breast cancer. It is important to determine if radiation therapy has any significant impact on the recurrence of cancer in low risk cancer patients.

The new trial will try to identify a molecular signature in breast cancer that may help to decide if radiation therapy is necessary to prevent recurrence of the breast cancer. Tissue from breast cancer surgeries will be used for extensive study in the future. Scientists are concerned about the long-term effect on the heart from radiation and chemotherapy.

The protein brain natriuretic peptide will also be researched to see if it is an early sign of cardiac damage. Electrocardiography and echocardiography will also be used to identify any early signs of cardiac trouble.

This ambitious study would also like to look into the quality of life of breast cancer survivors. They will look at the impact of radiation and chemotherapy, breast reconstruction and other quality of life areas. This massive study will include women from all over the world. More than 120 breast cancer centers around the world have already signed up to take part in this study.

The study could have an impact on the cost of breast cancer treatment. If it can be determined if radiation therapy will not increase survival rates of those patients who are low risk, it could save the medical community and breast cancer patients thousands of dollars. It's important to remember, the health and survival of breast cancer patients is the main concern of any trial or study carried on throughout the world.

The study may decide if women who were considered low-risk for recurrence of breast cancer would benefit from radiation therapy. Instead of prescribing radiation as a standard follow-up treatment after surgery, some women may not have to undergo the rigors of radiation therapy.

This new international trial is being sponsored and funded by the University of Edinburgh and Lothian Health Board as well as the United Kingdom Medical Research Council. The European Organization for Research on Treatment of Cancer and Breast International Group will coordinate the efforts of the trials worldwide.

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