Breast Cancer Do not Have to Do Chemotherapy
Breast cancer is a frightening specter for women. After cervical cancer, the disease ranks second as female killer.
In addition, people with breast cancer are also almost always required to undergo chemotherapy in a healing effort. Systemic therapy works by using certain chemical compounds to attack into the nucleus of cancer cells so that cancer cells can no longer reproduce itself.
However, many things to consider. In addition to relatively inexpensive, chemotherapy also has some side effects. Short-term effects of chemotherapy are nausea, vomiting, balding, and fatigue. Then, although rare, chemotherapy also has the potential to cause secondary cancer.
Fortunately, science is growing and breast cancer sufferers do not have to do chemotherapy. Principal Investigator Stem cell and Cancer Institute, Ahmad Rusdan Handoyo Utomo, PhD, said, breast cancer patients can undergo genomic tests before chemotherapy. The goal is to determine the risk of re-emergence of cancer cells within a certain time range.
However, genomic testing only applies to patients with early stage breast cancer, ie stage I and II. For advanced breast cancer, III and IV, free genomic testing is performed because cancer cells have spread to other body parts.
"The genomic test serves to see if the cancer is high risk or not. If the risk is low, he does not need chemo and the research says that within 5 years the risk of recurrence is 5 percent, 10 years 10 percent, "said Ahmad in the breaking ceremony of PT Kalbe Farma Tbk in Central Jakarta, Tuesday (13/6/20170.
If after the genomic test the patient expressed high risk, then chemotherapy still needs to be undertaken to prevent the recurrence of cancer cells.
Also read : be careful breast cancer is more difficult deteccted in fat woman
According to Ahmad, the low risk of cancer surviving without undergoing chemotherapy can provide psychological peace in patients.In addition, with such knowledge, doctors can take more precise medical measures. "In terms of cost, if chemotherapy is not just the cost of being recorded. There are other costs. For patients with low risk, he can be peace of mind , so really relieved, "he said.
Ahmad assessed 70 percent of breast cancer treatment tends to be over-handled. Doctors often advise chemotherapy on breast cancer that has enlarged. However, according to him, the magnitude of cancer cells is not necessarily correlated with the high risk of relapse.
However, Ahmad mentioned that the fatigue was not located on the doctor alone. Therefore, doctors act on the experience and standards of international cancer treatment. "If it has arisen in the armpit, his experience and international handling standards say should be chemotherapy," he said.
He continued, the size of the cancer is as small as a nut and there are as big as kedondong. The bigger he is, the more aggressive the doctor will be the chemo. But with a genomic test, it turns out that the size of the kedondong 60 percent low risk. He can live five years without recurrence.
Unfortunately, not many hospitals have provided genomic testing. For in Jakarta, this test is available at Pondok Indah Hospital (RS), Dharmais Hospital, and Metropolitan Medical Center Hospital. Ahmad said the Indonesian Oncology Surgeon Association (Peraboi) itself has not been firmly inserting the use of genomic tests on breast cancer.This is due to the relatively high cost of genomic testing which is around Rp 30 million to Rp 40 million.
In addition, people with breast cancer are also almost always required to undergo chemotherapy in a healing effort. Systemic therapy works by using certain chemical compounds to attack into the nucleus of cancer cells so that cancer cells can no longer reproduce itself.
However, many things to consider. In addition to relatively inexpensive, chemotherapy also has some side effects. Short-term effects of chemotherapy are nausea, vomiting, balding, and fatigue. Then, although rare, chemotherapy also has the potential to cause secondary cancer.
Fortunately, science is growing and breast cancer sufferers do not have to do chemotherapy. Principal Investigator Stem cell and Cancer Institute, Ahmad Rusdan Handoyo Utomo, PhD, said, breast cancer patients can undergo genomic tests before chemotherapy. The goal is to determine the risk of re-emergence of cancer cells within a certain time range.
However, genomic testing only applies to patients with early stage breast cancer, ie stage I and II. For advanced breast cancer, III and IV, free genomic testing is performed because cancer cells have spread to other body parts.
"The genomic test serves to see if the cancer is high risk or not. If the risk is low, he does not need chemo and the research says that within 5 years the risk of recurrence is 5 percent, 10 years 10 percent, "said Ahmad in the breaking ceremony of PT Kalbe Farma Tbk in Central Jakarta, Tuesday (13/6/20170.
If after the genomic test the patient expressed high risk, then chemotherapy still needs to be undertaken to prevent the recurrence of cancer cells.
Also read : be careful breast cancer is more difficult deteccted in fat woman
According to Ahmad, the low risk of cancer surviving without undergoing chemotherapy can provide psychological peace in patients.In addition, with such knowledge, doctors can take more precise medical measures. "In terms of cost, if chemotherapy is not just the cost of being recorded. There are other costs. For patients with low risk, he can be peace of mind , so really relieved, "he said.
Ahmad assessed 70 percent of breast cancer treatment tends to be over-handled. Doctors often advise chemotherapy on breast cancer that has enlarged. However, according to him, the magnitude of cancer cells is not necessarily correlated with the high risk of relapse.
However, Ahmad mentioned that the fatigue was not located on the doctor alone. Therefore, doctors act on the experience and standards of international cancer treatment. "If it has arisen in the armpit, his experience and international handling standards say should be chemotherapy," he said.
He continued, the size of the cancer is as small as a nut and there are as big as kedondong. The bigger he is, the more aggressive the doctor will be the chemo. But with a genomic test, it turns out that the size of the kedondong 60 percent low risk. He can live five years without recurrence.
Unfortunately, not many hospitals have provided genomic testing. For in Jakarta, this test is available at Pondok Indah Hospital (RS), Dharmais Hospital, and Metropolitan Medical Center Hospital. Ahmad said the Indonesian Oncology Surgeon Association (Peraboi) itself has not been firmly inserting the use of genomic tests on breast cancer.This is due to the relatively high cost of genomic testing which is around Rp 30 million to Rp 40 million.