Many breast-cancer patients don't need chemotherapy, study confirms

Tens of thousands of patients diagnosed early each year with the most common type of breast cancer can now safely avoid chemotherapy treatment without worrying if it is the right choice, researchers say.

The findings, published Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that 70 percent of women diagnosed with the common cancer that has not spread to the lymph nodes can forgo chemotherapy without risking their chance of recurrence or ability to be cured, said Loyola Medicine oncologist Dr. Kathy Albain, a co-author of the study and a member of the clinical