This research comes from the same college research facility that Dennis Slamon is at.
Quote:
Dennis J. Slamon, M.D., Ph.D., serves as director of Clinical/Translational Research, and as director of the Revlon/UCLA Women's Cancer Research Program at JCCC. He is a professor of medicine, chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and executive vice chair for research for UCLA's Department of Medicine. Slamon also serves as director of the medical advisory board for the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance, a fund-raising organization that promotes advances in colorectal cancer.
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It does make one think. After all, doesn't the "average" breast cancer take about 5-7 years to grow to approximately the stage II characteristics? If we look at the recent recurrence patterns for our breast cancer they peak about 20 to 24 months, and 5-7 years generally.
Perhaps radiation therapy destroys the factors that create an early recurrence and creates factors that foster a later recurrence.
This, of course, is all speculation - the point is some fascinating information is starting to come from all these decades of research.
I didn't opt for radiation, so did not read the studies you are referring to Aussie Girl. Are these radiation studies based on 5 year survival, 10 year survival?
With neoadjuvant treatment perhaps a larger number of women will have pCR and negative nodes and will be lucky enough to opt out of radiation as well. Fingers crossed.