THE dream of tailoring medical treatments to individual patients’ needs is slowly becoming a reality. A test has been developed that should help doctors select the best treatment for women or men with breast cancer.
Drugs such as tamoxifen and anastrazole work by blocking the hormone oestrogen, which stimulates the growth of many tumours. Tamoxifen blocks oestrogen receptors, while anastrazole shuts down oestrogen production. But these drugs sometimes do not work because not all tumours need oestrogen to grow. It is estimated that a third of patients on tamoxifen would do better on other treatments. At present, doctors use the…
