"Since these data were originally presented in 2007, I have used Oncotype DX to help make treatment recommendations for select node-positive patients in my clinical practice," said Eric Winer, M.D., Chief, Division of Women's Cancers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "It is imperative that we bring our new molecular insights into clinical practice so that we can optimize and individualize treatment for every patient with breast cancer."

Additional data analyses presented at the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium today reinforced the conclusion that chemotherapy does not appear to benefit patients with either 1-3 or 4 or more positive nodes for disease-free survival over 10 years, if their tumors have a low Recurrence Score. There was no breast cancer specific survival (BCSS) benefit from chemotherapy in either the low (log-rank>

"There are now five studies involving more than 1,000 patients that support the clinical utility of Oncotype DX in guiding treatment selection for node-positive breast cancer," said Steven Shak, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Genomic Health. "With this suite of clinical evidence, recently expanded Medicare coverage and clinical experience with more than 5,500 patients with node-positive breast cancer, we believe we can arm node-positive patients and their physicians with the same accurate, standardized genomic information that node-negative patients and their doctors have been using to help guide treatment plans over the past five years."

A separate study analyzing how the Oncotype DX Recurrence Score impacts treatment recommendations in breast cancer patients with node-positive disease (Abstract #2031) will be presented at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium on Friday, December 11, 2009 at 7a.m. CST.

SOURCE Genomic Health