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News on breast cancer biomarkers?

Page last modified on: November 20, 2008
Question from Ugen: Is there any news on breast cancer biomarkers?
Answer —Nicholas Robert, M.D.: There has been for some time the observation that you could measure in the blood so-called tumor markers, and these have included CEA and CA 27-29 or CA 15-3. More recently there has been the observation that one can identify circulating tumor cells. Another test is measuring part of the HER2 proteins. All these tests so far have only had some benefit in patients with metastatic breast cancer. And even in that situation, some of these tests can be negative. In patients who have early breast cancer, the so called adjuvant study, there is not any effective blood test to identify patients who may have micro-metastases. There is now new technology which permits us to measure very small amounts of proteins in the blood, the so-called nanotechnology, but so far a blood test has not been identified that helps in patients with early breast cancer.

On Wednesday, June 20, 2007, the Ask-the-Expert Online Conference was called Updates from the 2008 ASCO Annual Meeting. Generosa Grana, M.D., F.A.C.P. and moderator Nicholas Robert, M.D. answered your questions about the latest news on breast cancer screening, treatment, and side effects reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago.

The materials presented in these conferences do not necessarily reflect the views of breastcancer.org. A qualified healthcare professional should be consulted before using any therapeutic product or regimen discussed. All readers should verify all information and data before employing any therapies described here.

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Meet the Experts

Generosa Grana, M.D., F.A.C.PGenerosa Grana, M.D., F.A.C.P. is the director of the Cooper Cancer Institute and heads the division of hematology/medical oncology at Cooper University Hospital.

Nicholas Robert, M.D.Nicholas Robert, M.D. is a co-chair of the Breast Committee of the U.S. Oncology Research Network and also chairs the Cancer Committee and Research Committee of the Inova Fairfax Hospital's Cancer Center. 

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