Maybe You Don't Need Chemo

Nausea, infections, and mental confusion called "chemo brain" are the price that 100,000 breast cancer patients are willing to pay each year to get well. But many women now may sidestep chemotherapy and these noxious side effects. Currently, people with estrogen-sensitive tumors that haven't spread to lymph nodes routinely undergo chemo to prevent a recurrence. However, an article published online last week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology reported that women who got a low score on the Oncotype DX test, which looks at 21 markers of tumor growth, lived long lives even without chemo. Their probability of living for at least 10 years without a recurrence was 96.8 percent.

"Thousands of women are receiving toxic therapies, potentially unnecessarily. So this is very exciting to us," says Jo Anne Zujewski, head of breast cancer therapy evaluation at the National Cancer Institute. Patients can ask their doctors to send samples of the tumor to the test maker (www.oncotypedx.com). The cost: about $3,500, which is covered by Medicare and some private insurance. -Josh Fischman
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/060605/5healthwatch.lede.htm

This is not new news, but at least it looks as if now, it's "acceptable" news.