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MRC Scientists Find Better Way to Predict the Outcome of Breast Cancer Following Surgery

December 03, 2003

MRC Scientists have found a better way to predict the outcome of breast cancer following surgery which might lead to the improved management of the disease.

The discovery, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, complements the methods doctors currently use to predict the outcome of breast cancer following surgery in order to choose the best course of treatment for individual patients.

The research team, led by Dr Nicholas Coleman of the MRC Cancer Cell Unit, examined breast cancer tissue removed in surgery and found that a protein called Mcm-2 gives a more precise indication of how quickly tumour cells in breast cancer grow.

This allows doctors to establish the status of the disease more accurately, which in turn helps them make better predictions of overall survival and to determine the chances of a tumour recurring after treatment or of the cancer spreading to other organs.

Dr Coleman said:

"This is good news for women with breast cancer as an accurate assessment of the outcome following surgery is key to choosing how much further therapy is needed for an individual patient. It is important that patients receive neither too little nor too much additional treatment for their tumours.

"The discovery has the potential to make a difference to the lives of thousands of women as breast cancer is the most common type of cancer to affect women in the UK."

Cancer Research UK (CRUK) also funded the research. Professor Robert Souhami, CRUK's Director of Clinical and External Affairs, said:

"This research shows that levels of MCM2 may provide additional information about outcome in breast cancer. The findings will hopefully prove helpful to doctors when choosing the most effective approach to treatment."

Further research is now required to validate these results before they can be used in routine clinical practice.

Breast cancer accounts for almost one in three of all cancers in women. Each year there are nearly 41,000 new cases in the UK.

Medical Research Council




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