Deciding on breast cancer treatments is a balancing act -- you want to choose the ones that are most effective AND have the fewest side effects. The small study of 54 women reviewed here may give doctors another tool to measure how effective chemotherapy is against metastatic breast cancer.
Using a simple test, researchers measured levels of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the bloodstream of women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer before, during, and after chemotherapy. The researchers found that women whose CTC levels went down had a much lower risk of the cancer progressing.
The researchers concluded that a drop in CTC levels meant the chemotherapy was working.
These early results look promising. Still, the study is small and the women have been followed for only 2 years. More research is needed to determine if CTC levels really are a good way to tell if chemotherapy is working, as well as if the results apply to all women and all types of breast cancer.
Stay tuned to breastcancer.org for the very latest news on treatments for metastatic and recurrent breast cancer.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A drop in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) indicates that chemotherapy is working in patients with metastatic breast cancer. This can be established within a few weeks, after the first cycle of treatment, a Georgetown University team reported at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
The researchers say that toxic side effects can be minimized and the effectiveness maximized throughout the course of treatment by periodic measurement of CTCs. The early detection of a poor treatment response allows the physician to switch the patient to another drug regimen that may be more effective.
Principal investigator Dr. Minetta C. Liu presented the study results for the first 54 of a planned 100 group of breast cancer patients who are having their treatment monitored by CTC levels.
Measurements were taken before treatment began and again 3 to 4 weeks later, after the first cycle of chemotherapy was completed. The researchers continued to collect blood samples every 3 or 4 weeks throughout treatment to monitor the patient's response.
Liu said they have followed the women for as long as 2 years, comparing CTC levels with the findings of X-rays, CT scans and other conventional tests used to detect cancer progression.
Compared with women who had less than 5 CTCs per 7.5 milliliters, women who had higher CTC levels had a "greater than 5-fold increased chance of disease progression," Liu said. "A 5-fold increase in the chance of disease progression is phenomenal."
"We don't necessarily need new drugs," she added. "We just need to use the old ones in a smarter way. By measuring CTCs, we can see right away if the drug is working or not and limit toxicity."
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