Cancer Issues
Certain Advanced Breast Cancer Patients May Benefit From Surgery Before Other Treatment
By
Dec 11, 2013 - 5:40:05 PM

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - San Antonio, Dec. 11, 2013 - Patients newly diagnosed with advanced breast cancer and a solitary bone metastasis could benefit from  surgery prior to other treatment, according to early results from a first-of-its kind clinical trial presented today at the 2013 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

"In the U.S., approximately 5 percent of breast cancer patients are diagnosed with advanced disease when they first see their physician," said Atilla Soran, M.D., a breast surgical oncologist with Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC and the study's lead investigator. "Around the world, that percentage can go as high as 10 percent. Current standard of care recommends avoiding surgery in these patients and prescribing systemic therapy and radiation therapy instead. Previous research, however, has shown that surgery can actually prolong survival in other advanced cancers and we wanted to see if the same held true for breast cancer."

As a Turkish native, Dr. Soran approached the Turkish Federation of Societies for Breast Diseases about conducting a clinical trial to test the survival benefit of such a treatment approach. In 2007, under scientific advisement with UPMC, the trial launched.

The study enrolled 278 patients with advanced breast cancer from across Turkey, 140 of whom underwent breast cancer surgery. The primary goal of the study was to assess whether early surgical treatment in women with advanced disease could affect overall survival.

"Our initial results don't show any difference in survival rates, but we are early in the follow-up phase," said Dr. Soran. "However, we did notice that one patient subgroup - patients with a singular metastasis to the bone - is trending toward prolonged survival."

Patients with aggressive forms of the disease, and patients with multiple metastases on the liver and lungs, derived less benefit from the treatment approach.

"Breast cancer isn't just a U.S. concern - it's a global disease. We will continue our follow-up and reporting from this clinical trial for several years to come, and hopefully our study will help women here at home and abroad by improving our understanding of how to best treat it," said Dr. Soran.

This study was sponsored by the Turkish Federation of Societies for Breast Diseases.

#  #  #

About UPMC
A world-renowned health care provider and insurer, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is inventing new models of accountable, cost-effective, patient-centered care. It provides more than $622 million a year in benefits to its communities, including more care to the region's most vulnerable citizens than any other health care institution. The largest nongovernmental employer in Pennsylvania, UPMC integrates more than 62,000 employees, 22 hospitals, 400 doctors' offices and outpatient sites, a 2.2-million-member health insurance division, and international and commercial operations. Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC ranks No. 10 in the prestigious U.S. News & World Report annual Honor Roll of America's Best Hospitals - and No. 1 in Pennsylvania. For more information, go to UPMC.com.

###

For advertising and promotion on HealthNewsDigest.com, call Mike McCurdy: 877-634-9180 or [email protected]. We have over 7,000 journalists as subscribers.