Treatment includes surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, targeted therapy or hormonal therapy, likely a combination depending on the individual’s disease. Patients with a large breast tumour or palpable lymph nodes often receive chemotherapy first, followed by surgery. During chemotherapy, a doctor performs breast exams and occasional imaging to monitor the tumour and assess how much it is shrinking.
Given that the degree of tumour shrinkage during chemotherapy can predict outcomes and sometimes potentially influence treatment plans, is there a better way to measure the tumour’s response to chemotherapy before surgery?
Armed with a new Health Professional-Investigator Award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, this is the question that a research team led Dr. Jenny Ko, medical oncologist and director of clinical trials at BC Cancer – Abbotsford, is aiming to find out.
