Health

Gene Profiling Could Reduce Useless Cancer Treatment

0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M
N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Gene Profiling Could Reduce Useless Cancer Treatment

Date: Friday August 1, 2003
Subject: Gene Profiling Could Reduce Useless Cancer Treatment



LONDON (Reuters) - Genetic profiling of patients with breast cancer can determine if women will respond to one of the newest and most effective chemotherapy drugs and reduce the use of unnecessary treatment, scientists said Friday.



Some women have tumors that are resistant to certain cancer drugs so knowing their genetic profile, which determines their susceptibility to disease and how they will react to a treatment, could help doctors prescribe the best therapy.



Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, did genetic profiles on samples of cancerous breast tumors from 24 patients to test their response to docetaxel, a widely used chemotherapy drug.



"This study helps to define the molecular portrait of cancers that response or not to docetaxel, one of the most active agents in breast cancer treatment," said Dr. Jenny Chang, who headed the study.



Docetaxel is produced by Frenco-German drugmaker Aventis SA under the brand name Taxotere.



After using microarray technology to look at many thousands of genes at once, Chang and her team found 92 genes that seemed to determine the difference between whether the tumor would be sensitive or resistant to the drug.



By knowing how the tumor will respond before beginning the treatment doctors can avoid using drugs that won't work and select therapies that will be most effective.



Chang said the gene expression profiling had an 88 percent accuracy.



If the research, reported in The Lancet medical journal, is validated, Chang said the genetic profiling could lead to a test to determine tumor sensitivity to docetaxel.



Breast cancer is the number one cancer killer in women. The disease is treated with surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and hormone therapy such as tamoxifen.



E-newsgroups are a free service provided by Duke and the Doctor -we don't want you to miss any important news on the health topics of your choice.
Visit www.dukeandthedoctor.com where you can: View and print E-newsgroups and E-newsletter archives Sign-up to receive our free monthly E-newsletter Listen to the show both live and archived Review Dr. McBarron's natural recommendations Shop online Much, much more