Avoiding over- and undertreatment in patients with resected node-positive breast cancer with the use of gene expression signatures: are we there yet?

ABSTRACT: Prediction of benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy following resection of early breast cancer and, as a result, proper selection of candidates remains an elusive goal since the relative magnitude of benefit is the same regardless of the presence of clinicopathologic factors. Multiple studies, including randomized trials, establish the role of certain gene expression signatures in node-negative disease since they predict the risk of breast cancer relapse being so low that adjuvant chemotherapy can be omitted. In contrast, more limited data are available in higher risk, node-positive breast cancer patients, making the exclusion of adjuvant chemotherapy potentially hazardous. 'Prospective-retrospective' studies and limited prospective data show that several signatures, namely Oncotype Dx, Mamma

SUBMITTER: Matikas A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6695578 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature