Imaging technique helps predict breast cancer response to chemo

The method, which uses red and near-infrared light, measures the blood flow dynamics in the breasts of women undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. This type of treatment is generally given to women newly diagnosed with invasive, but operable, breast cancer for five or six months before they undergo surgery. Women who have a complete response – where the chemo eliminates all active cancer cells – have a lower chance of cancer recurrence.

“Patients who respond to neoadjuvant chemotherapy have better outcomes than those who do not, so determining early in treatment who is going to be more likely to have a complete response is important,” said study co-leader Dawn Hershman, MD, head of the Breast Cancer Programme at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

“If we know early that a patient is not going to respond to the treatment they are getting, it may be possible to change treatment and avoid side effects.”