Older Women with TNBC Benefit from Chemo

Some physicians contend that the risks of chemotherapy are greater than its benefits for older breast cancer patients; new research shows otherwise.

Women over 65 with triple-negative breast cancer with affected lymph nodes benefit from chemotherapy, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers surveyed the records of 6,487 women with lymph-node positive disease who were older than 65 and who had been treated between 1975 and 1999 with a variety of chemotherapy regimens. Their basic conclusion: Age alone should not be the determining factor in assessing treatment options.

"I believe older patients in generally good health with triple-negative disease should get the best possible chemotherapy," said researcher Hyman Muss, MD, at the Miami Breast Cancer Conference. Muss is director of geriatric oncology at the University of North Carolina's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Chapel Hill.

The Cancernetwork has an article on the research.