Treatment breakthrough for breast cancer

Published on Tuesday 3 November 2009 21:09

A BREAKTHROUGH by Scottish scientists could help lead to more successful treatments for women with breast cancer, research suggests.

In the largest ever study of its type, involving more than 200 tumours, a third of the cancers were found to have changed form when they spread outside the breast.

It means that further tests could be carried out to ensure women are given the most appropriate treatment for the type of cancer they have when it spreads, potentially increasing survival rates.

The scientists, from the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit at the University of Edinburgh, said further research was needed before the tests could be carried out more widely in the health service.

The team analysed 211 tumours which had spread from the breast to the lymph nodes in the armpit – to which breast cancer cells usually spread first. They found that in 82 cases (39 per cent), the disease in the lymph nodes had changed its type.

Breast cancer is a complex disease with many different types of tumour. These can be treated in different ways.

Cancer cells that have spread to lymph nodes are often more difficult to treat than those in the breast, meaning it is vital women receive the most appropriate treatment.

Breast cancer spreads to the lymph nodes in 40 per cent of the 46,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK each year.

The Edinburgh researchers did not expect the disease to change type in such a high proportion of patients, and in so many ways, when it had spread. For example, 20 tumours changed from the type known as oestrogen receptor (ER) negative to ER positive.

This change would mean hormone therapies such as tamoxifen, which would not have worked for the original tumour, could help treat the disease if it has spread.

The study also found that other tumours changed from ER positive to ER negative, suggesting those patients may be given treatments which will not benefit them and are experiencing side-effects unnecessarily.

Lead researcher Dr Dana Faratian said: "We were surprised that such a high proportion of tumours change form.

"This suggests there is a need to test which type of disease a woman has in the lymph nodes, because it could radically alter the course of treatment she receives."

Professor David Harrison, director of the Edinburgh Breakthrough Breast Cancer Research Unit, said:

"With an additional test, we may be able to treat women more effectively and also make more efficient use of NHS resources."