November 10, 2016 – Breast Cancer Tool

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Anchor lead: A new tool can help physicians better manage breast cancer, Elizabeth Tracey reports

A new online tool developed by Antonio Wolff, a breast cancer expert at Johns Hopkins, and colleagues should help doctors managing women with breast cancer maximize the information found in pathology reports and decide whether additional genetic testing will help.  Wolff says this strategy could be important in all types of cancer.

Wolff: This is an important principle that is applicable not just to this one specific molecular test but as we begin to understand that cancer in general, not just breast cancer, is not just one disease.  When we try to classify cancers in different baskets, if you will, these classifications become important if they can help guide treatment decisions if they will ultimately influence patients outcomes.  :29

Patients must often pay significant copays or out of pocket for genetic testing, and Wolff says there’s no point in doing that if it isn’t going to change treatment, a question that will be increasingly important as more genetic assessments are developed. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.