Tiniest Cancer Spread May Need Treatment

Even a few cancer cells in a lymph node may signal a need for more treatment after breast cancer surgery, new research suggests. The study involved more than 2,700 Dutch women with early-stage cancer. All had surgery to remove their tumors and some or all related lymph nodes. Some women had lymph node “micro tumors” of less than 2 millimeters. Some had only a few cancer cells in the nodes. After five years, at least three-quarters of all women were cancer-free. But cancer was 50% more likely to come back in women who had micro tumors or a few cancer cells than in those with cancer-free lymph nodes. Their risk was much lower, though, if they had received more treatment after surgery. The study was in the New England Journal of Medicine. The Associated Press wrote about it August 13.