Personalized medicine advances with new genetic test

The FDA has formally approved a complex new genetic test that can gauge the likelihood of a relapse of breast cancer. The test, MammaPrint, was developed by Amsterdam-based Agendia. While FDA officials say the test is not 100 percent accurate, the regulators add that the test is a "fabulous" tool for oncologists. Early-stage breast cancer patients typically go through chemotherapy after their tumor is removed, even though in most cases the cancer will not reoccur. This new test is designed to give patients a better idea of the risk they run if they choose to avoid chemotherapy. But the test approval is also being held up as an example of the way a new generation of therapies can be more precisely administered as genetic tests evaluate potential risks and benefits.

- see Agendia release [1] on the approval
- read the article [2] from The New York Times

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