Breast cancer study by UCR medical student could help patients live longer

By Iqbal Pittalwala

Surgery is associated with increased survival for patients with HER2-positive stage 4 breast cancer

A student at the University of California, Riverside, presented research results at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, or AACR, in Atlanta showing that surgery is associated with higher survival rates for patients with HER2-positive stage 4 breast cancer compared with those who did not undergo surgery.

The protein HER2, or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, can play a role in the development of breast cancer.

“Between 20% and 30% of all newly diagnosed stage 4 breast cancer cases are HER2-positive,” said Ross Mudgway, the study’s lead author and a third-year student in the UCR School of Medicine. “This form of breast cancer once had poor outcomes, but in recent years, advances in targeted therapy have led to improved survival.”

For more information, please visit: https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2019/04/02/breast-cancer-study-ucr-medical-student-could-help-patients-live-longer