Submitted by Pallavi Sharma on Tue, 05/24/2011 - 10:38 Health Research TNM
In a recent study, scientists discovered that using the genetic information of a breast cancer patient could help doctors determine whether or not chemotherapy would be an effective way of fighting cancer. Some experts have even gone as far as calling this development the “crystal ball” of breast cancer treatment.
One of the biggest decisions made in treating breast cancer is whether or not to have preventative surgery or use chemotherapy. Using the genetic information, doctors can discover whether or not chemotherapy would be effective on a patient. Currently, different pieces of genetic information are already used to guide prediction and prevention of breast cancer, and now it can be used for treatment.
“Prediction is always a good thing, because when you can predict accurately, you can pre-empt”, said Dr. Charis Eng. “So, let’s say this ‘crystal ball’ says this person is not going to do well after standard treatment for early breast cancer. That would make their physicians much more vigilant, trying to catch things that come back very, very early or to even give very aggressive treatment”.
According to medical experts, this type of treatment prediction could cut the cost of health care significantly and would allow doctors to attack tumors and help patients get better without wasting valuable time.
http://topnews.net.nz/content/215157-genetic-information-can-guide-effective-breast-cancer-treatment
No comments:
Post a Comment