最新研究發現 部分乳腺癌早期患者無需化療

A new study has found that women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer don't always need chemotherapy.

一項最新研究發現，診斷出乳腺癌早期的女性不需要經常接受化療。

Even though chemotherapy drugs have harsh side effects, many women with small or early-stage tumors receive treatment after surgery because doctors think there is a high risk the cancer will return and spread.

儘管化療的副作用非常痛苦，但是很多患有乳腺癌早期或者病情較輕的女性依然在手術之後接受化療，因爲醫生認爲癌細胞有轉移和復發的風險。

But based on the findings of a multi-center European study, researchers have concluded that 46 percent of women thought to have early high-risk tumors did not need drug treatment.

但是歐洲多個醫學中心的研究人員發現，46%的患有早期高風險腫瘤的女性不需要藥物治療。

They studied a test called MammaPrint, which analyzes the genetics of the tumor, telling doctors which women are good candidates for chemotherapy.

他們研究了一項名爲"基因檢測"的測試項目，這個項目能夠分析腫瘤的基因，以便幫助醫生決定哪些患者適合接受化療。

European researchers enrolled almost 6,700 women with early stage breast cancer from 112 institutions in nine European countries between 2007 and 2011 to investigate the so-called 70-gene signature test.

歐洲研究人員在2007年到2011年期間，從9個歐洲國家的112家醫療機構招募了近6700名乳腺癌早期患者，研究了這個所謂的70基因標記測試。

Fatima Cardoso, a medical oncologist with the Champalimaud Cancer Center in Lisbon, Portugal, is the principal investigator of the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

葡萄牙里斯本Champalimaud癌症研究中心的內科腫瘤醫生法蒂瑪·卡多索是這項研究的總負責人，其研究成果發表在了《新英格蘭醫學雜誌》上。

"By analyzing all these characteristics of the tumor, like fingerprint or the ID card of the tumor," she told VOA, "we were able to better characterize the biology of the disease and to understand if the tumor had a high risk of relapse or a lower risk of relapse."

她在接受《美國之聲》採訪時表示："通過分析所有這些腫瘤的特點--就好像腫瘤的指紋或者身份證一樣，我們能夠更好地辨別這種疾病的生理特徵，確定癌症復發的風險是高還是低。"

If a clinical assessment of a high risk of relapse matched the findings of a participant's genetic test, she received chemotherapy. If both tests showed a low risk, the woman did not get drug treatment.

如果一個受試者復發的臨牀評估與基因檢測的結果相一致的話，她就需要接受化療。如果兩個測試都顯示覆發的風險不高，患者就不需要接受化療。

Out of the initial group of women, however, results for 1,500 were mixed; they were deemed by their doctors' clinical assessment to be at high risk for a return of their cancer, but determined to be at low risk using the gene test. Half were assigned to receive chemotherapy and half did not.

但是，初始患者組中有1500人的結果有些複雜；她們醫生做出的臨牀評估表明她們癌症復發的可能性很高，但是基因測試卻顯示覆發的可能性很低。一半的人被指定接受化療，而另一半的人則沒有。

Five years later, at the end of the study, researchers found survival rates among women who did not get chemo were almost as good as those who were treated. The survival rate among the non-chemotherapy group was 95 percent after five years and just 1.5 percent higher among women who got chemotherapy, according to Cardoso.

五年之後，研究結束時，研究人員發現，沒有接受化療的患者生存率和接受了化療的患者生存率一樣高。卡多索表示，沒接受化療的那組患者的五年生存率爲95%，比接受化療那組患者的五年生存率高出了1.5%。

"So for the patient clearly this is a way forward, going into precision medicine. We can analyze the tumor of that specific patient and tell her or him that the risk of relapse is sufficiently high or sufficiently low regarding the value of chemotherapy," said Cardoso.

卡多索說道："所以，對患者來說，有一條道路是非常明確的，那就是精準施藥。我們能夠分析特定患者的腫瘤，並就復發的風險高低來告知患者接受化療的價值。"