Two medical studies have revealed that some cancer patients can safely forgo radiotherapy or chemotherapy following surgery to remove tumors, which might avoid the harmful side effects and unnecessary costs of such medical procedures, according to the Associated Press.
One study found that through a specific blood test, colon cancer patients might be identified who might skip chemotherapy following surgery, while another found that some low-risk breast cancer patients might forgo radiation following lumpectomy.
The research was discussed during the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, which concluded its activities on Tuesday in Chicago.
The study of colon cancer included 455 patients, who underwent surgery due to the spread of cancer in the colon wall. After the surgery, a group of patients underwent a blood test consistent with the genetic characteristics of the tumor to detect any remaining parts of the cancer’s DNA.
When the cancer did not show any signs of persistence, the patients did not receive chemotherapy, while the doctors decided to give chemotherapy to the rest of the patients in the usual way.
Dr. Stacey Cohen, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, who reviewed the colon cancer findings and was not involved in the research, said the findings might allow clinicians to “focus on the patients who will really benefit from chemotherapy, and avoid the side effects of patients who are likely to have it.” unnecessary for them.”
Dr Jane Tay, from the Peter McCallum Cancer Center in Melbourne, Australia, said: “In patients whose cancer DNA is not detected following surgery, the chance of the cancer coming back is very low, indicating that chemotherapy is unlikely to benefit these patients.”
As for the breast cancer study, it was conducted on 500 elderly women, who had a common type of breast cancer in its early stages and had low levels of a protein known as Ki67, which indicates the presence of fast-growing cancer.
After the surgery, the women took so-called hormone-blocking pills, a treatment for this type of cancer, but did not receive radiation therapy.
After 5 years, the disease recurred in 10 women and there was one death. The researchers said that the results are positive, if compared to the data of patients receiving radiation.
Dr Timothy Whelan, of McMaster University in Ontario, who led the study, which was supported by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and the Canadian Cancer Society, said: ‘The benefits of radiation would be very minimal in this group compared to the side effects.
