‘Like Christmas’: woman’s relief after test finds she can skip chemotherapy
SkimNews Take
The trial's success in identifying patients who can forgo chemotherapy highlights the growing potential for precision diagnostics to refine treatment protocols, shifting away from generalized approaches.
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- Optima trial recruited 4,429 breast cancer patients across six countries to test the Prosigna genomic assay’s ability to identify those who could safely for chemotherapy.
- Prosigna test evaluates 50 tumor genes to generate a recurrence risk score, guiding treatment decisions.
- Chemo‑skip group achieved a 93.7% five‑year disease‑free survival rate, statistically non‑inferior to the 94.9% rate in the chemotherapy group.
- Karen Bonham, a 55‑year‑old Welsh patient, avoided chemotherapy, received radiotherapy and hormone therapy, and remains cancer‑free nine years later.
- ASCO meeting in Chicago will showcase the trial’s findings, underscoring the potential to spare millions of women from chemotherapy’s toxicity and cost.
Why it matters: Women with early‑stage breast cancer gain a reliable way to skip chemotherapy, cutting toxic side effects and saving health systems billions in drug costs; the trial’s 93.7% five‑year disease‑free survival shows non‑inferior outcomes.
