From Nancy Lapid

May 26 (Reuters) - Data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting showed that a test provided by Veracyte can identify patients with early-stage, high-risk breast cancer who can safely skip chemotherapy.

In a randomized trial involving more than 4,400 patients with early-stage breast cancer that was particularly aggressive or prone to spreading and recurrence, more than two-thirds of the women whose care relied on VeraCyt's ProSnia genomic test were able to safely avoid chemotherapy.

The five-year cancer-free survival rate in the Brusnia cohort was 93.7 percent, which is statistically at least as high as the 94.9 percent rate in patients randomly selected to receive chemotherapy under standard care.

VeraCit said the test analyzes the activity of 50 specific genes in tumor tissue to identify the molecular subtype and assess the "risk of disease recurrence in the next 10 years" to help oncologists decide on the need for chemotherapy.

Chemotherapy can have significant physical and psychological effects, with young women facing consequences including infertility, cognitive impairment, and early menopause, with up to 43 percent of survivors suffering from chronic neuropathy.

Dr. Kelly Marcum, medical director of breast cancer at VeraCyt, said the trial results "represent a milestone in breast micro-oncology."