MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper Participating in Innovative Breast Cancer Study

Study explores if some patients may forego surgery after chemotherapy

MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper has joined a clinical research study to determine if certain breast cancer patients who respond positively to neoadjuvant systemic therapy can be treated without surgery. This study, done in conjunction with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, is led by principal investigator Henry M. Kuerer, MD, PhD, professor in the Department of Breast Surgical Oncology at MD Anderson.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is the administration of intravenous therapeutic agents to reduce a tumor in advance of another treatment such as surgery. Researchers believe that some patients with certain kinds of breast cancer who have an extraordinary response to pre-surgery chemotherapy can benefit from this type of treatment without surgery and not require a lumpectomy.

“This study has the potential to spare patients from surgery and its attendant risks and potential complications when they may not derive a significant benefit. This study supports the national initiative toward minimizing over-treatment of breast cancer,” said Catherine E. Loveland-Jones, MD, MS, attending surgeon at MD Anderson at Cooper.

This new trial is open to women with tumors that are less than 5 centimeters and either triple-negative and/or Her2-neu positive. After completing chemotherapy, patients will undergo an image-guided biopsy. Those patients without residual disease will not have surgery and instead go on to receive standard radiation. The patients will then be followed very closely for 5 years with physical exams and breast imaging to make sure the cancer does not recur.

To learn more about this study at MD Anderson at Cooper, contact 856-735-6289 or ResearchCancer@CooperHealth.edu.

About Cooper University Health Care

Cooper University Health Care is the leading academic health system in South Jersey. Cooper includes South Jersey’s only Level I trauma center (Cooper University Hospital), a leading cancer center (MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper), the only Level II pediatric trauma center in the Delaware Valley (Children’s Regional Hospital), one of the largest physicians group in the region, four urgent care centers, and more than 100 outpatient offices throughout South Jersey and Pennsylvania. Cooper has been carrying out its mission “to serve, to heal, to educate” since 1887.

About MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper University Hospital

Cooper University Health Care and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center – a world-renowned cancer center – have partnered to create MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper. The physicians at MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper adhere to the practice standards, treatment protocols, and guidelines set by MD Anderson in Houston, Texas. Disease-site specific multidisciplinary teams consisting of physicians, nurses, and other clinical specialists work together to provide cancer patients with advanced diagnostic and treatment technologies, access to a wide range of groundbreaking clinical trials, and dynamic patient-physician relationships. A full complement of support services provides complete, compassionate care for our patients.

###

Wendy A. Marano
Public Relations Manager
Cooper University Health Care
marano-wendy@cooperhealth.edu
856.382.6463

Leave a Reply

DO NOT USE THIS FORM FOR APPOINTMENTS. Using this form will only delay your ability to get an appointment. Please use the contact information in the article or visit appointments.cooperhealth.org.