Side Effects Of Treatment Offer Research Direction.(adjuvant treatment for breast cancer)

2001 JUL 12 - (NewsRx Network) -- In a sweeping review of 25 years of research into the side effects of adjuvant treatment for breast cancer (chemotherapy and/or radiation following surgery), an Ohio State University cancer specialist concludes that adjuvant therapy reduces mortality, most of the side effects are reversible, and there is little or no increase in long-term cardiac toxicity and second cancers using current regimens.

The conclusions were published in the June 28, 2001, edition of the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Charles L. Shapiro, director of breast medical oncology at the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, conducted the review.

"Today a majority of women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer will be breast cancer survivors," says Shapiro. "At the same time, we have lowered the threshold for treating these women with adjuvant therapy such that it is becoming increasingly important to understand the short- and long-term side effects of the treatments."

Among the findings:

Weight gain and chemotherapy-induced ovarian failure are common problems in younger women. Shapiro says ovarian failure - when a woman's ovaries stop producing estrogen and she goes through menopause at an earlier age than expected - is important because it can lead to osteopenia, osteoporosis, and possibly cardiovascular disease. He concludes ...