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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new computer tool may soon be helping doctors determine which women are most likely to see a return of their breast cancer within 10 years.
The tool might also be used to identify women who could benefit from radiation therapy following standard surgery to remove their cancer.
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The tool was developed by researchers at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston to assess future cancer risk in the same breast and the need for radiation therapy among women with early stage breast cancer who are initially treated with a lumpectomy. The tool takes multiple factors into consideration, like the woman's age, the size and grade of the tumor, whether or not the lymphatic system is affected, and whether or not the woman has undergone chemotherapy or hormone therapy.
"Our tool provides physicians with information regarding the risk of breast cancer returning in the same breast for any individual patient, which can then help them evaluate the potential benefit of additional treatments needed to cure the cancer, including radiation therapy," reports study author Mona Sanghani, M.D.
While Dr. Sanghani and her fellow investigators emphasize more study will be needed before their computerized tool is put into widespread practice, they believe it holds promise in guiding many of the tricky decisions that must be made following a diagnosis of breast cancer.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Presented at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's 48th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, Nov. 5-9, 2006
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