Breast cancer test to predict sufferers' chance of recovery

Hi,

Not sure if this has been posted elswhere. As usual with cancer news the reality is a long way off but …

telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/4423187/Breast-cancer-test-to-predict-sufferers-chance-of-recovery.html

The new technology also analyses tumours to determine the best treatment options for individual patients. The breakthrough has been made by doctors from Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, Canada, and could be available to British patients within five years.

Col
ps - please sign AICR prostate cancer petition
petitions.number10.gov.uk/AICRPSACampaign/

Interesting report…thanks.

Mind you I think already that doctors have a pretty good idea of which primary breast cancer patients will survive and which won’t…but they don’t usually reval their thoughts to patients…not good for morale…which raises another interesting point…how would we each feel if at diagnosis there was a foolproof ‘you will survie’ ‘you will die’ prognosis??

Jane

I also believe that doctors have a pretty good idea of who is likely to relapse etc by using a number of factors. However, like all diseases, I don’t suppose they could ever give you a cast iron guarantee that it won’t come back or that it will definitely kill you as there are so many variables to factor in. Personally, I would want to know if my subtype was a likely killer than live in a fool’s paradise, but there must be many who would rather not know. Its one of those interesting ethical dilemmas that having access to more sophisticated diagnostic and prognostic techniques brings with it - what exactly do you tell the patient?

I would love to know if I was going to be be of the ones who survives. I’m not so sure I would want to know the other way round. At the moment I live in hope, and I like it that way.