New genomic test may help thousands of breast cancer patients skip chemotherapy

In the OPTIMA phase III trial of more than 4,400 patients, the Prosigna genomic test helped identify lower-risk early breast cancer patients.

For these hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative patients, hormone therapy alone performed as well as hormone therapy plus chemotherapy.

The findings suggest many patients could avoid chemotherapy side effects without losing effectiveness.

The results, presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting, could push breast cancer care further toward genomic precision medicine.