A new treatment approach significantly improves survival rates for patients with aggressive, inherited breast cancers, according to Cambridge researchers.
In a trial where cancers were treated with chemotherapy followed by a targeted cancer drug before surgery, 100% of patients survived the critical three-year period post-surgery.
The discovery, published in Nature Communications, could become the most effective treatment to date for patients with early-stage breast cancer with inherited BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations.
Breast cancers with faulty copies of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are challenging to treat, and came to public attention when actress Angelina Jolie, a BRCA1 carrier, underwent a preventative double mastectomy in 2013.
Current standard treatment aims to shrink the tumor using chemotherapy and immunotherapy, before removing it through surgery. The first three years after surgery is a critical period, when there is the greatest risk of relapse or death.
In comparison, the survival rate for the control arm was 88% three years after surgery. Of the 45 patients on the control arm who received chemotherapy only, nine patients relapsed, of whom six died.
Know more: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/05/2505...

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