Blood test can tell, if cancer will return

Dr Zubeena: Director Oncology/Hematology at Holyoke

HOLYOKE, Massachusetts - Dr. Zubeena Mateen is the Director of Hematology & Oncology at Holyoke Medical Centre, in Massachusetts. While speaking about; Tumors found in the blood stream of breast cancer patients, She recently stated that: "A simple blood test could let breast cancer survivors know whether the disease will return".

"A lot of the time, you find tumors in the blood. 40% of the time you find them circulating in the blood stream, but most of the time, those patients don't develop recurrent disease. We don't have any studies to know what to do with that patient population. Should we treat them with chemotherapy? Should we treat them with hormone therapy? There is no treatment recommendation, so the test is not ready for prime time." said Dr. Zubeena.

Researchers looked at the presence of tumor cells in the bloodstream of women with early stage breast cancer. They found that women who had the cells in the blood had a four times greater risk of recurrence or death, but patients with a lot of cells were eleven times more likely to die. Researchers are now trying to figure out which of the tumors are harmless, and which could be an indicator that the breast cancer will return and a woman will die.

Holyoke Medical Center is the first and currently, the only hospital in Western Massachusetts to successfully complete the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers in the USA.

http://www.wwlp.com/news/health/test-lets-breast-cancer-survivors-know-if-cancer-will-return