Breast Cancer Study Offers New Hope

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TUESDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) --Giving certain breast cancer patients estrogen-lowering drugs before surgery enhances their chances of being able to choose a breast-conserving lumpectomy instead of a full mastectomy, new research suggests.

The observation was based on a national study launched at 118 hospitals across the United States. It focused on postmenopausal women who had been diagnosed with estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer that was either at stage II or stage III -- that is, tumors that were around an inch or greater in size and might have spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.

The most common form of breast cancer, ER+ accounts for about three-quarters of all breast cancer cases in the United States, the authors noted.

The 352 women who participated were monitored for tumor growth before and after being placed on a 16-week regimen of aromatase inhibitors -- estrogen-lowering agents -- before any surgery. Estrogen stimulates the growth of ER+ tumors.

The women were classified into three groups as the study began: "marginal", meaning that the women were eligible for a lumpectomy to conserve the breast, but that it would be disfiguring or require several operations; "mastectomy-only", meaning a lumpectomy was not considered possible; and "inoperable", meaning that doctors believed that even a mastectomy would not completely remove the cancer...Read More