Dr. Ward on Multigene Testing in Breast Cancer

John H. Ward, MD, professor of Medicine, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, discusses his preferences in multilane testing for patients with hormone receptor (HR)—positive, node-negative breast cancer.

For patients with HR-positive, node-negative breast cancer who would be considered for chemotherapy, the current recommendation is the 21-gene recurrence score as it is believed to be predictive of chemotherapy benefit. However, there are a couple of caveats, Ward explains. First, if a patient has already been tested with other assays, it is unnecessary to repeat testing with the 21-gene recurrence score.

Ward says that there is no wrong choice when it comes to selecting an assay, but the 21-gene recurrence score is his preference. For patients in which chemotherapy is not being considered or for those who would not be a candidate for chemotherapy, the panel is also not needed as it will not affect the treatment decision.

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