Loading article...
International trial finds two-thirds of breast cancer patients could safely avoid chemotherapy using gene test
A major international trial led by University College London found that a gene test called Prasignia can identify which breast cancer patients need chemotherapy and which can be safely treated with hormone therapy alone.
A major international trial has found that two-thirds of women diagnosed with breast cancer could safely avoid chemotherapy thanks to a gene test that measures the activity of fifty genes in cancer growth. The trial, led by University College London, followed more than four thousand newly diagnosed women over the age of forty.
The gene test, called Prasignia, calculates a woman's risk of the disease returning by measuring gene activity in the tumour. Those who received a low score were not treated with chemotherapy and instead received hormone therapy alone, sparing them the debilitating side effects including fatigue, nausea, hair loss and a weakened immune system.
The five-year survival rate for the group that avoided chemotherapy was 93.7 per cent, compared with 94.9 per cent among patients who received chemotherapy as part of their treatment. Researchers described the difference as not clinically significant, suggesting the gene test can reliably identify patients who do not benefit from the additional treatment.
The university estimates that more than five thousand NHS patients per year could avoid chemotherapy based on the trial results. This would also free up pressure on chemotherapy services, allowing resources to be directed toward patients more likely to benefit from the treatment regardless of their disease.
The results of the trial will now need to undergo further review before the treatment approach could be approved for wider clinical use. Researchers described the findings as a significant step toward personalised medicine in cancer care.