Dr. Fox Discusses Genomic Testing in Breast Cancer

Kevin R. Fox, MD, Medical Director, Rena Rowan Breast Center, University of Pennsylvania, Abramson Cancer Center, discusses the role of genomic testing for women with early-stage breast cancer with positive lymph node status, a concept that is already widely accepted for women that are node-negative.

Women that are estrogen receptor-positive with negative lymph nodes make up the largest minority of patients with early-stage breast cancer. Although the genomic tests are not perfect the results can be used to help determine which chemotherapy treatment should be used.

The success of testing in node-negative cancer has raised the question of whether it should be used in node-positive as well. Despite the limited amount of information the premise is that testing is successful regardless of lymph node status.