New test reduces chemotherapy for breast cancer patients who won’t see benefits

A new test has significantly reduced over-treatment of breast cancer patients with chemotherapy and saved the Health Service Executive €800,000, new Irish research indicates.

More than half the 583 patients with cancer who took part in the study underwent a change in their treatment.

Some 339 patients who would previously have been recommended chemotherapy were changed to hormone therapy alone after the test revealed that they were likely to derive little or no benefit from chemotherapy. Meanwhile, six patients who would not have been advised to undergo chemotherapy were recommended to get it following the test.

Funding

In October 2011, Ireland became the first country in Europe to publicly fund the Oncotype Dx DNA test, which indicates whether a woman is likely to get breast cancer again and the potential benefit from chemotherapy.

The test is performed on a small amount of the tissue removed during original surgery, whether a biopsy, lumpectomy or mastectomy, and no additional surgery is required to undergo the test.

"The HSE was the first public healthcare system to reimburse this test in Europe. The results from Ireland demonstrate not only the impact of the personalised information Oncotype DX provides on treatment decisions, but also the significant cost savings associated with the use of the test over time," said lead researcher, Dr Janice Walshe, a consultant medical oncologist at St Vincent's University Hospital in Dublin.

Dr Walshe led the research for the All-Ireland Co-Operative Oncology Research Group (ICORG) in collaboration with the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP).