Chemo Effects for Breast Cancer Patients

Posted by Eddie FarahAugust 31, 2006 7:59 PM

A recent study lead by Boston's Dana-Faber Cancer Institute marks the first attempt to assess risks of chemotherapy for 35,000 breast cancer patients under 64 who receive the drugs. Roughly one in six women end up at the emergency room or hospital because of side effects such as infection, low blood counts, dehydration or nausea.

Most side-effect information comes from clinical trials of medications that can underestimate toxicity. Those trials are designed to prove if the drug fights cancer and therefore should be sold, and they tend to enroll only the best candidates instead of women who might be particularly sensitive to side effects.

The study further stated many women don't need chemotherapy in the first place; that surgery, radiation and hormone treatment are enough. Additionally women under 64 are thought to tolerate chemotherapy better than older women.

Research Director Dr. Michael Hassett sifted through a massive database of insurance claims to determine how often breast cancer patients were hospitalized after diagnosis, and how some leading chemotherapy side effects were blamed.

A total of 16 percent of chemo recipients received either emergency room care of hospitalization for those side effects. Most common: infection and fever, afflicting 8 percent of the patients. That's not a high number - but it is four times what previous clinical trials predicted.

Additionally 61 percent of chemo recipients visited the ER or were hospitalized for various side effect reasons not just chemotherapy when compared with 42 percent of breast cancer patients not on the drugs.

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