New use for existing test ‘could help predict breast cancer recurrence’

A new way of predicting breast cancer recurrence has been identified that utilises information from a test already being used within the NHS.

Led by teams at the Institute of Cancer Research in London and The Royal Marsden, with support from Breast Cancer Now, the study focused on the Oncotype DX test, which analyses 21 different genes and is widely used to predict the likelihood of breast cancer returning in patients treated with hormone therapy.

It was found that levels of ER expression, one of the genetic markers examined by Oncotype DX, had a substantial effect on risk of the disease recurring and may be useful in determining who may or may not benefit from extended therapy.

Patients with high ER levels showed a relatively low recurrence rate in the first five years, but this was followed by an approximate doubling of risk in the next five years. Conversely, patients with relatively low ER expression showed a constant risk of recurrence across the ten-year period.

Mitch Dowsett, a professor of biochemical endocrinology and head of the academic department of biochemistry at The Royal Marsden, said: "We urgently need to bring new ways of identifying which women would benefit from extended treatment into routine use as quickly as possible."

In 2011, just under 50,000 women were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, making it the UK's most common cancer type.