Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
House Call: Breast Cancer Studies
Aired July 03, 2003 - 07:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Two new studies look at an experimental treatment for breast cancer that combines chemotherapy with a bone marrow transplant.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is off today, and we have medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us now from CNN Center with all of the details on this.
This sounds kind of different, that's for sure.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. Some people would probably be surprised to hear that people do sometimes use bone marrow transplants to treat very aggressive breast cancer. And, in fact, the debate has raged for over a decade. Is that a good idea or is that not a good idea? Some people have had high hopes for bone marrow transplants for breast cancer patients.
But these two new studies will certainly dash those hopes. The first study found that a bone marrow transplant, along with high-dose chemotherapy, was not helpful for women with aggressive breast cancer. A second study found that it was only marginally helpful for a subgroup of women who had a certain genetic makeup.
This leads the group, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, to conclude there is no one right decision for all women -- meaning that women need to talk to their doctor to see if perhaps they fall into this group.
One of the considerations that they'll need to think about is that in one of these studies, 250 women got a bone marrow transplant, and they found that nine of them died from that treatment and another nine got leukemia or some other similar disorder.
So, again, the basic conclusion of these two studies is that bone marrow transplant is not a good idea for people with advanced breast cancer. It may possibly help a bit for certain women -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Well, yes, I mean, a bone marrow transplant is no easy procedure, that's for sure. Why do researchers think that this would work at all?
COHEN: Well, the hope had been that a bone marrow transplant might somehow help the immune system fight the cancer. And, indeed, bone marrow transplants do indeed help for other kinds of cancer. They are very helpful. But for breast cancer, it appears to be not terribly helpful.
COLLINS: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN medical correspondent, thanks so much, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
\
Aired July 3, 2003 - 07:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Two new studies look at an experimental treatment for breast cancer that combines chemotherapy with a bone marrow transplant.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is off today, and we have medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us now from CNN Center with all of the details on this.
This sounds kind of different, that's for sure.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. Some people would probably be surprised to hear that people do sometimes use bone marrow transplants to treat very aggressive breast cancer. And, in fact, the debate has raged for over a decade. Is that a good idea or is that not a good idea? Some people have had high hopes for bone marrow transplants for breast cancer patients.
But these two new studies will certainly dash those hopes. The first study found that a bone marrow transplant, along with high-dose chemotherapy, was not helpful for women with aggressive breast cancer. A second study found that it was only marginally helpful for a subgroup of women who had a certain genetic makeup.
This leads the group, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, to conclude there is no one right decision for all women -- meaning that women need to talk to their doctor to see if perhaps they fall into this group.
One of the considerations that they'll need to think about is that in one of these studies, 250 women got a bone marrow transplant, and they found that nine of them died from that treatment and another nine got leukemia or some other similar disorder.
So, again, the basic conclusion of these two studies is that bone marrow transplant is not a good idea for people with advanced breast cancer. It may possibly help a bit for certain women -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Well, yes, I mean, a bone marrow transplant is no easy procedure, that's for sure. Why do researchers think that this would work at all?
COHEN: Well, the hope had been that a bone marrow transplant might somehow help the immune system fight the cancer. And, indeed, bone marrow transplants do indeed help for other kinds of cancer. They are very helpful. But for breast cancer, it appears to be not terribly helpful.
COLLINS: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN medical correspondent, thanks so much, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
\
