More Women Need Breast Cancer Test: Report

According to new research, a genetic test to determine if women should receive Roche’s breast cancer drug trastuzumab, also known as Herceptin, is frequently not given.

In a study published online by the journal Cancer, researchers say as many as two thirds of patients with aggressive breast cancer had no documentation of the test in their health insurance records.

The study also showed that approximately 1 in 5 women taking Herceptin had no record of being tested

“Our review of the literature suggests that there are important knowledge gaps regarding the real world use of HER2 testing and trastuzumab,” Elena Elkin, a researcher at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York and one of the study’s authors, said in a statement.

“Filling these gaps may help optimise limited healthcare resources and improve care for women with breast cancer.”

The study is published online in the journal Cancer.