Estrogen-Lowering Therapy before Surgery Benefits Breast Cancer Patients

A new study presented last week at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago has found that for some breast cancer patients, receiving estrogen-lowering drugs prior to surgery may help avoid full mastectomies, instead allowing them to receive lumpectomies that could help conserve the breast.

Researchers used data from a national survey involving almost 120 hospitals in the U.S. to reach this conclusion. Roughly 350 postmenopausal women with estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer participated in the study, which placed them on a four month treatment schedule of estrogen-lowering drugs before surgery. ER+ breast cancer, in which tumor growth is stimulated by estrogen, is the most common form of breast cancer.

In each participant, tumor growth was monitored before starting treatment, as well as after. The women were also placed into one of three groups. Women in the “marginal” category qualified for a lumpectomy; however the procedure may have required additional procedures. Women categorized as “mastectomy-only” were not believed to be eligible for a lumpectomy. Finally, women whose cancer was thought to be untreatable, even through mastectomy, were classified as “inoperable”.

Following the estrogen-lowering regimen, researchers discovered that more than 80 percent of women in the “marginal” category were now considered eligible for lumpectomies, which would conserve more of their breast. Of the women in the “mastectomy-only” group, more than 50 percent were able to receive lumpectomies, and about 75 percent considered inoperable were able to have a lumpectomy. The estrogen-lowering drugs were found to shrink the tumors in many of the participants, allowing them to have less disfiguring surgeries.

Earlier treatment usually results in a better prognosis for patients with breast cancer. If you or a loved one has breast cancer medical malpractice questions in New York, please contact the cancer malpractice attorneys at Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. We have helped clients with Manhattan breast cancer, Bronx breast cancer, Brooklyn breast cancer, Long Island breast cancer, and Queens breast cancer cases.

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