Doctors find new way to treat breast cancer

Wendy Rigby KENS 5 Eyewitness News

Thousands of breast cancer researchers and doctors are in the Alamo City for the San Antonio Breast Cancer symposium.

Some new data from the meeting shows a new genetic test for tumors can keep some patients from undergoing unnecessary chemotherapy.

When Lynda Neff of New Braunfels was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer, she and her doctor, oncologist Sharon Wilks, had a big decision to make. After surgery, did Neff need a long, drawn-out expensive round of infused chemotherapy? Or would a round of pills be enough to keep the cancer from rearing its ugly head further down the line?

“I had seen people who had endured chemotherapy. The lack of energy, the loss of their hair,” Neff said.

Neff opted for a new kind of test called Oncotype DX . A sample of her tumor was sent to a lab in California, where testing can determine if patients are likely to really need chemotherapy to keep the cancer from coming back.

“This is a tool that we can use that analyzes the person’s specific tumors, individualizing their treatments and looking at characteristics in terms of genes,” Wilks said.

Statistics show only about 4 percent of stage one breast cancer patients actually benefit from chemotherapy. That’s thousands of dollars patients may not need to spend for their survival.
“The cost savings are tremendous in addition to time off from work, hair loss, nausea, fatigue, blood count issues that can accompany even a short-course chemotherapy,” Wilks said.

In Neff’s case, her test revealed only a 5 percent chance of the cancer returning, and she took the pills only.

“We don’t all have the same blood types. We don’t all have the same heredity. You know, we’re all different people. And I think our health care should be individualized to all of those factors,” Neff said.

The Oncotype DX test has been used commercially for about four years now on about 75,000 women. At least 60 physicians in San Antonio now use this technology to keep women from the cost and pain of unnecessary treatments.

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