"Surgery to remove the primary tumor in women diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer followed by the standard combination of therapies adds months to the patients lives compared with standard therapy alone an international clinical trial led by a University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute UPCI professor revealed.  The results of the phase III randomized controlled trial will be presented Saturday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology ASCO annual meeting in Chicago. The study was selected for the societys Best of ASCO an effort to condense the research most relevant and significant to oncology into a twoday program to increase global access to cuttingedge science.  Our findings will change the standard of care for women newly diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer said principal investigator Atilla Soran M.D. M.P.H. clinical professor of surgery University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and breast surgical oncologist with UPMC CancerCenter. Weve shown that surgery to remove the primary tumoreither through lumpectomy or mastectomyfollowed by standard therapy is beneficial over no surgery. Dr. Soran began the trial in  ultimately recruiting a total of  women newly diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer from  institutions. Half the women received standard therapy which avoids surgery and consists of a combination of chemotherapy hormonal therapy and targeted therapy while the other half first had surgery to remove their primary breast tumor followed by the standard therapy.  At about  months after diagnosis the women who received the surgery plus standard therapy lived an average of nine months longer than their counterparts who received standard therapy alone. Nearly  percent of the women who received surgery lived to five years after diagnosis compared with less than  percent of the women who did not receive surgery.  The trial also showed that surgery in younger women with less aggressive cancers resulted in longer average survival than in women with more aggressive cancers that had spread to the liver or lungs.  Our thinking is similar to how you might approach a battle against two enemies said Dr. Soran. First you quickly dispatch one armythe primary tumorleaving you to concentrate all your efforts on battling the second armyany remaining cancer. This research was primarily funded by the Turkish Federation of Societies for Breast Diseases. The study received scientific advisement from UPMC and assistance with statistical analysis from epidemiologists at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. About UPCI  As the only NCIdesignated comprehensive cancer center in western Pennsylvania UPCI is a recognized leader in providing innovative cancer prevention detection diagnosis and treatment biomedical research compassionate patient care and support and communitybased outreach services. Investigators at UPCI a partner with UPMC CancerCenter are worldrenowned for their work in clinical and basic cancer research. http"