NCCN revises treatment guidelines.(National Comprehensive Cancer Network)(breast cancer)(Brief Article)

2002 APR 4 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) presented the 2002 Breast Cancer Practice Guidelines at their 7th annual conference in Hollywood, Florida.

The NCCN Practice Guidelines in Oncology are the recognized standard for clinical policy in the field of oncology. The guidelines are continuously monitored and updated with the most up-to-date information regarding cancer care. The Breast Cancer Treatment Guidelines have been revised twice in the past year. A full update was completed in December 2001 and then, the guidelines were updated again in January 2002 based on the release of new data at the 2001 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.

The 2002 Breast Cancer Treatment Guideline changes were based on review and discussion of recently published evidence. Major changes in 2002 include elaboration on the role of sentinel node biopsy, and updates in systemic therapies including the role of hormonal therapy with the aromatase inhibitors in postmenopausal women and LH-RH agonists in premenopausal women for metastatic disease.

Trial results that led to the January 2002 update include the ATAC (Arimidex and Tamoxifen Alone or in Combination) trial results, which demonstrate that Arimidex (anastrozole) provides superior disease-free survival and a favorable toxicity profile compared with tamoxifen as adjuvant therapy for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer ...