Dr. Kuerer on Eliminating Breast Cancer Surgery

Henry M. Kuerer, MD, PhD, professor of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the elimination of breast cancer surgery in exceptional responders.

In a recent study by the MD Anderson Cancer Center, the feasibility of eliminating surgery in patients with triple-negative and HER2-amplified breast cancers was assessed. These were patients who exhibited an exceptional response rate after being treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy which, routinely, has a complete eradication of disease in up to 60% of patients in the breast and lymph nodes.

With imaging still being an ineffective tool to help predict response, biopsy with imaging is being looked at to identify patients that may be eligible to bypass surgery.

In the combination of standard radiotherapy with image-guided, extensive vacuum-assisted core biopsy, following neoadjuvant therapy, the trial met its endpoint with accuracy at nearly 98%, with a false negative rate of 5%, and a negative predictive value of about 95%.