Parker Hughes Cancer Center


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JANUARY 12, 2004

CONTACT: THOMAS KNISELY
PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECTOR
2848 PATTON ROAD
ROSEVILLE, MN 55113
TELEPHONE: (651) 796-5400

Beating the Odds: An Initial Review of Patient-Tailored Treatment of Breast Cancer Patients at Parker Hughes Clinic

Roseville, MN.
Parker Hughes Clinic is pleased to report that an initial review of its patient-tailored approach to Stage IV breast cancer has been completed. In summary, 71 Parker Hughes patients diagnosed with metastatic Stage IV breast cancer, including 62 patients with relapsed disease, were found to have a median survival time of 19 months when receiving cancer treatments as an outpatient at Parker Hughes. In contrast, the average median survival time obtained in a meta-analysis of six published multi-center clinical trials of patients with metastatic or relapsed breast cancer was approximately 11 months. (Multi-center findings ranged from 7.6 months-14.5 months). (References: .J. Clin Oncol. 17:485-493, 1999; Ann Oncol 11: 873-875, 2000; Cancer 92:1759-1768,2001; Br. J. Cancer 86:1367-1372, 2002; J. Clin. Oncol. 20:2812-2823, 2002; Ann Oncol 14:1227-1233, 2003). Parker Hughes findings are in the process of being formalized for submission to several cancer journals. While encouraging, from a statistical standpoint it is important to recognize that these findings are based on 71 Stage IV breast cancer patients treated at Parker Hughes from 2000 to present. Parker Hughes further found that 58 of 61 women (95%) who have been treated at the Clinic for Stage I to Stage III breast cancer remain alive.

In addition to assessing global health outcomes, Parker Hughes Clinic has also started a preliminary review of health outcomes of advanced breast cancer patients according to their specific health plan starting with Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS). The median survival of BCBS patients with relapsed or Stage IV breast cancer was 24 months in this encouraging initial subset analysis.

Commenting on the initial global findings, Dr. Sanda Morar, a Board Certified Medical Oncologist at the Clinic stated: These early outcome results show that several patients who are either already diagnosed with or eventually develop Stage IV metastatic breast cancer can be helped through the timely application of advanced diagnostic and therapeutic tools. With continued improvements in technology, the odds of success are likely to further improve.

In addition to its progressive treatment of Stage IV breast cancer patients, the Parker Hughes Clinic also actively treats newly diagnosed localized breast cancer patients. The use of adjuvant chemotherapy after a patients initial breast surgery, has been shown to be successful in helping to prevent cancer recurrence. Chemotherapy resistance of recurrent tumors in these patients remains a major obstacle to their successful treatment. The timely recognition of the success or failure of a specific chemotherapy treatment regimen through diagnostic imaging provides physicians with an opportunity to timely evaluate the effectiveness of a given approach. If necessary, changes in a patients treatment regime can then be made.

Since its establishment in 2000, Parker Hughes Cancer Center has employed a personalized approach to the detection and treatment of breast cancer. Parker Hughes multidisciplinary approach to care is credited with much of the Clinics success.