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Minister for Health Dr James Reilly with (l to r) breast cancer patients, Anne Marie Moran, Sarah Ryder, Anne Marie Meehan, Orlaith Cryan, May Redmond, Mireille Finnegan and Linda Hannan. Maxwell Photography
Breast Cancer
Irish patients benefit from breakthrough breast cancer test
Irish patients were first in Europe to access the test that in one year made savings of around €856,440 for HSE.
THE TEST, ONCOTYPE DX, helps to identify which women with early stage invasive breast cancer are more likely to benefit from adding chemotherapy to their hormonal treatment.
Not only do the tests benefit cancer patients, there made significant savings for the HSE.
In one year of using the Oncotype DX test among 342 patients in Ireland an estimated €856,440 was saved for the Health Service Executive.
Genomic Healthcare carried out studies on the impact of Oncotype DX and initial estimates suggest that at least 50 per cent of women tested nationally avoided the need for chemotherapy.
Ireland was the first country to approve the test back in October 2011 and a full review of its usage is being carried out by the National Cancer Control Programme (NCCP) and results are due later in 2013.
“Based on the growing body of evidence illustrating the clinical and economic value of Oncotype DX for patients and physicians across healthcare systems in Europe, it is important that more patients get access to this test to help determine whether they should receive adjuvant chemotherapy treatment,” said Dr. Catherine M. Kelly, M.D., consultant medical oncologist, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital and University College Dublin, Ireland.
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