Relapses occur in more than half of women treated for advanced breast cancer.
Research presented Sunday by Dr. Pier Francesco Ferrucci, a cancer specialist at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan, Italy, is a step toward a more accurate gauge. His preliminary results suggest that a key to recognizing women whose cancer is most likely to recur might be a protein called maspin, produced by cells in the breast. He found that women who have high levels of maspin in their bone marrow tended to remain disease-free for two years, while those with low concentrations were more likely to have a recurrence. Ferrucci presented his findings Sunday at the European Society of Medical Oncology in Hamburg. The research could result in a new test to add to doctors' arsenals when they try to predict relapses, said Dr. Klaus Hoekman, a professor of medical oncology at the Free University Hospital in Amsterdam, who was not connected with the research.