Breast cancer tests to revolutionise cancer prognosis
Imagine you’ve been told you’ve got breast cancer. Awful news for any woman (or occasionally man). Most people will have their cancer cut out and depending on its grade and type a woman will more often than not be offered aggressive treatment such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. OK, but what if I tell you that many women are given the ‘wrong’ treatment following conventional diagnostic testing. That is, no post surgical treatment when the cancer is genetically aggressive so there’s a good chance it will return within the next few years, often having spread to other parts of the body. Conversely, too much treatment when the cancer is genetically non aggressive - potentially condemning the woman to a lifetime of fatigue and lack of well being.
There are now a couple of tests on the market which will diagnose a breast tumor according to its genetic ‘signature’. They let you know whether your cancer is likely to come back (it’s aggressive) or not (it’s not aggressive). One is Agendia’s FDA approved Mammaprint test from Europe (tests 70 cancer genes), the other is Genomic Health’s Oncotype DX test from the USA (tests 16 cancer genes). There are others similar tests about to come on the market but these are the ones that are commercially available right now. Both tests cost several thousand US$/Euros - in my opinion money worth spending to get the ‘right’ diagnosis. Some insurance companies are already reimbursing the tests. Mammaprint is an advanced micro-array test that is used on fresh tissue, so it’s great to know what type of breast cancer you’re dealing with immediately post surgery. Oncotype DX is an RT-PCR test used on paraffin embedded tissue (FPE) so it’s great if you’ve missed the boat, post surgery.
There’s loads of scientific and clinical validation studies on both tests – visit www.agendia.com for Mammaprint and www.genomichealth.com for Oncotype DX for more information.
Penny Harrington
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POSTED IN: General Genetics and Health, Genetic Future, Genetic Ingenuity, Genetic Testing
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9 opinions for Breast cancer tests to revolutionise cancer prognosis
Jasmin B.
Jul 17, 2007 at 10:37 pm
I’ve found more relevant informations about your good article on this page: http://www.puzzr.com/health/cancer-prognosis-news-17-07-2007.html
Penny
Jul 18, 2007 at 2:34 pm
Hi Jasmin
Many thanks for your link.
I find it breathtaking at times that these tests are not more widely taken up by women. Cost maybe an issue but more probably it’s to do with a lack of understanding of these tests by the referring physician. That said I do hear that word is now getting out within the clinical and diagnostics communities that these tests do have a significant place in directing treatment, so they should be offered more frequently. I guess now that the FDA have approved the Mammaprint test, we’ll be seeing a lot more accreditations by both the US and European accreditation authorities for these types of tests. This is good news for patients, in my opinion! Penny
Wally
Jul 19, 2007 at 7:59 am
That is wonderful. Most patients are skeptical about spending so much on their treatment if it’s likely to come back. With this new test, they’ll most likely gain confidence to those treatments..
Trisha
Jul 20, 2007 at 12:10 am
I’ll be glad when (or if) the day comes when different cancers can be screened for with blood tests alone. Or saliva. I’ve read a little bit here and there hinting at research to try to make tests like these, but they are still a long way off.
Pat
Jul 20, 2007 at 1:18 am
We can only hope that similar test would be available any time soon. A lot of people are suffering from cancer and it’s sad that some of them can’t be treated .
Penny
Jul 20, 2007 at 8:58 am
Don’t worry Pat similar tests for other cancers will be coming on to the market in the next 1-2 years. Agendia have recently published that their ColoPrint test for Colon cancer will be out early 2008. I understand Genomic Health have a colorectal test coming out later in 2008. Both of these companies have a pipeline of similar prognostic tests coming out over the coming years. I am also aware that there other companies in Europe, US and Australasia who will soon be commercialising prognostic products once the necessary validations have been completed. Penny
ramunas
Jul 26, 2007 at 3:57 pm
great post - I’ve just recently wrote a short review about gene expression profiling and other tests in cancer.
http://cancergenetics.wordpress.com/2007/07/24/gene-expression-profiling-in-cancer-a-brief-review/
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