Successful treatment of small breast-cancer tumors may not require chemotherapy or hormonal therapy, according to an analysis of five recent large anticancer trials. The study found that women with tumors 1 cm or less in size did equally well after surgery, in terms of overall survival, whether they had chemotherapy or not. Use of chemotherapy after surgery for tumors 1 cm or less is a controversial issue, said Elizabeth Tan-Chiu, MD, Associate Director of the Medical Oversight Division, National Surgical Adjuvant Breast Project (NSABP), at the 22nd annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. There have been no clinical trials studying this specific group of women, she said, so this study examined data from five separate NSABP trials, which included a total of 1,260 women with tumors of this size. The NSABP is a cooperative group of research centers which pools its efforts to mount large clinical trials of cancer treatments. Thanks to Doctors Guide for their reporting. Ann's NOTE: I heard Dr. Tan-Chiu speak at this conference which I attended via a scholarship provided by the San Antonio Breast Cancer Foundation. Her abstract pointed out that though recurrence-free survival was "improved by the addition of chemotherapy in the ER-negative group and by the addition on tamoxifen and chemotherapy in the ER-postive group", overall survival was NOT impacted. (Overall survival is actual survival). "Eight year survival among all women in the cohort was 92%, indicating a favorable prognosis overall." (Cohort is the group studied). Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.