In a joint consensus statement on the use of primary systemic therapy, a panel of experts including researchers from Griffith University in Queensland and the Peter McCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, suggested pre-surgical therapy should be considered as a “standard approach” when managing operable breast cancer in clinical practice.
Published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute the statement said patients could be offered an immediate biopsy, combined with targeted cancer therapies and a follow-up with further regular biopsies to improve their chances of “a complete pathological clearance of the tumour”.
And they say it could prove beneficial for women under 50 in particular, who have been shown to benefit from pre- rather than post-operative chemotherapy.
“The new strategy allows us to...
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