Recruitment milestone reached in breast cancer trial

breast cancer screening - A milestone 3,000 participants have been recruited to a clinical trial led by UCL and UCLH, which is aimed at reducing the number of patients with breast cancer who receive unnecessary chemotherapy. The OPTIMA trial (Optimal Personalised Treatment of early breast cancer using Multi-parameter Analysis) is looking at use of a molecular test to determine which patients need chemotherapy. The recruitment milestone - reached during Breast Cancer Awareness month in October - represents two-thirds of the target recruitment for OPTIMA, whose Chief Investigator is Professor Rob Stein (UCL Cancer Institute). Breast cancer treatment has become increasingly successful in recent years, thanks to the routine use of hormone treatment and chemotherapy after surgery. However, clinicians are concerned that many patients with the common hormone-driven type of cancer don't benefit from chemotherapy and are being exposed to needless treatment with unpleasant side effects. The clinician's dilemma is knowing who could benefit from chemotherapy and who can be safely spared. The OPTIMA trial looks at using a gene test performed on surgically-removed tumour tissue to identify patients who have tumours which will respond to chemotherapy.