Breast cancer: New tumor marker guidelines and Oncotype DX

Published: October 30, 2007, 2:30 pm

Tags: healthcare, health, new treatment, breast cancer, oncotype dx, tumor

If you're living with breast cancer, chances are you are already familiar with tumor markers, even if you're not aware that you are! That's because estrogen and progesterone receptors (ER/PR) and HER-2 (Human Epidermal Growth Receptor 2) are tumor markers with which many breast cancer patients are at least passingly, if not intimately, familiar. And with the recent release of the American Society of Clinical Oncology's (ASCO) 2007 updated guidelines on tumor markers in breast cancer, as well as their release of a patient brochure on the same subject, it seems timely to take a brief look at this important topic, particularly in regard to new recommendations. Part of the problem with tumor markers is that they come in a variety of forms, and so there's no easy way to describe what they are. They are substances (just think of how broad that word is) that can be present on the tumor tissue itself (like ER/PR and HER-2), circulating in the blood (like cancer antigens you may

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