Early breast cancer treatment guidance published

The NICE's Diagnostics Assessment Programme on four tests used has been issued today for consultation.

Some patients with a good prognosis may still suffer recurrence after curative surgery and additional therapy but some considered to have a poor prognosis may never develop recurrence.

It has presented a challenge to clinicians to estimate prognosis and make appropriate decisions about the use of additional chemotherapy treatments in people with early stage breast cancer.

The guidance recommends the chemotherapy type be used in people with certain types of early breast cancer who have been assessed as being at intermediate risk of recurrence.

The draft follows consultations on previous drafts and the submission of a confidential access proposal by the manufacturer of a type of chemotherapy.

The four tests evaluated in the draft guidance measure the presence of multiple markers in the tumour that may indicate how the tumour is likely to progress.

Used in conjunction with other available information such as tumour size and grade, they aim to improve the targeting of chemotherapy in breast cancer by improving the stratification and identification of patients who are most likely to benefit from chemotherapy.

Professor Carole Longson, director at the NICE Health Technology Evaluation Centre, said: "A test that can help predict the risk of distant recurrence and therefore the potential likely benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in people with early breast cancer more accurately than the tools currently used, would represent a significant step forward both for patients considering therapy, and the NHS in terms of allocating resources."

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women in England and Wales. In 2010 there were more than 42,000 new cases diagnosed.

It is also the second largest cause of cancer death in women after lung cancer - in 2010 breast cancer resulted in 10,328 deaths for women in England and Wales.