Breast cancer therapy time could be cut

Mike Waites Health Correspondent

TREATMENT times for patients with breast cancer could be cut significantly, a study in Yorkshire has found.

Experts from Sheffield University say the combined effect of a drug combination used to treat the illness over six weeks is as effective as therapy over six months.

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A previous study in Sheffield found the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin, used to stop tumour growth, and zoledronic acid, which is given to protect bone in advanced breast cancer, almost completely eliminated breast tumours when given in a particular sequence.

Senior lecturer Ingunn Holen and her team have now tested whether this result could be achieved by short-term use of the combination in mice. The comparisons, published in the International Journal of Cancer, showed a weekly course of combination therapy for six weeks is as effective as the longer treatment.

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