When breast cancer is caught early, five-year survival rates are 99%, according to the American Cancer Society. But breast cancer is not just one specific disease; there are many different types. The treatment that’s best for one woman may not be best for another.
Thankfully, women with breast cancer have many more treatment options than ever before. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and hormone therapies still play a role in breast cancer treatment, depending on a person’s cancer type and progression. Newer to the arena are targeted therapies, immunotherapies and ongoing clinical trials.
Treatment options for breast cancer may include one or a combination of the following:
Some women with breast cancer may receive drugs called targeted therapy. Targeted therapies can be used to treat breast cancer based on the specific characteristics of cancer cells, such as a specific gene, protein, or tissue environment that allows the cells to grow quickly or abnormally.
For example, targeted therapy may block the action of an abnormal protein (such as HER2) that stimulates the growth of breast cancer cells.
In general, targeted therapies are often more effective, longer-lasting and less toxic than other therapy options. Breast cancers are evaluated in the pathology lab to determine if they contain receptors - including HER2, estrogen receptors or progesterone receptors. Researchers and oncologists now understand that being able to target a certain aspect of a tumor leads to better outcomes for the patient. Based on the findings in the pathology lab, oncologists are able to determine if the best treatment option is targeted therapy.
“Because a lot of times, those mutations are what’s driving the tumor—its growth, its replication, its resistance to dying,” says medical oncologist Dr. Jon Gross. “So, if we are able to shut that mutation off, then we can shut off that cancer.”
Trastuzumab (Herceptin™) or lapatinib (TYKERB™) may be given to a woman whose lab tests show that her breast tumor has too much HER2:
For cancers that have no positive hormone receptors, including a subtype called triple-negative breast cancer, hormone therapy or targeted therapy are not helpful. Therefore, treatment for those types of breast cancer will often consist of a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.
Immunotherapy is a class of cancer treatments that boost a person’s own immune system to help kill cancer cells. Several newer studies suggest that immunotherapy has the potential to improve outcomes for breast cancer patients.
Surgery is the most common treatment for breast cancer. Your doctor can explain each type, discuss and compare the benefits and risks, and describe how each will change the way you look:
Radiation therapy (also called radiotherapy) uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells. It affects cells only in the part of the body that is treated. Radiation therapy may be used after surgery to destroy breast cancer cells that remain in the area.
“Radiation treatment is much more elaborate than it was 20 years ago,” says Willamette Valley Cancer Institute radiation oncologist Dr. Emily Dunn.
Dr. Dunn says advances in technology, particularly in the last decade, have made radiation therapy more precise and individualized to each patient’s anatomy.
“For instance, we used to use X-rays to create a radiation plan and now we use a CT scan, which gives a three-dimensional view of the treatment area, allowing us to take into account not only how much radiation is going to the target area—the breast and possibly the surrounding lymph nodes—but also to the area we don’t want to target, including the heart and the lungs.”
“Patients often ask if the radiation hurts, and it doesn’t. What we’re treating you with is high-powered X-rays,” Dr. Dunn says. “You’re not going to feel the radiation treatment. You’ll hear the machine click on and off. You’ll notice you’re the only person in the room receiving treatment, but we can see you and hear you on our private screens and make sure everything is going well.”
As with most cancer treatments, radiation therapy can have side effects, which vary from patient to patient. Some breast cancer patients experienced discomfort under the armpit or close to the treatment site and some fatigue. Some patients may experience mild or intense skin irritation, similar to a sunburn.
Doctors use two types of radiation therapy to treat breast cancer. Some women receive both types:
Radiation oncologists, including Dr. Emily Dunn, explain what breast cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy can expect from treatment at Willamette Valley Cancer Institute.
Hormone therapy may also be called anti-hormone treatment. If lab tests show that the tumor in your breast has hormone receptors, then hormone therapy may be an option. (See Lab Tests with Breast Tissue.) Hormone therapy keeps cancer cells from getting or using the natural hormones (estrogen and progesterone) they need to grow.
If you have not gone through menopause, the options include:
In general, the side effects of tamoxifen are similar to some of the symptoms of menopause. The most common are hot flashes and vaginal discharge. Others are irregular menstrual periods, thinning bones, headaches, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, vaginal dryness or itching, irritation of the skin around the vagina, and skin rash. Serious side effects are rare, but they include blood clots, strokes, uterine cancer, and cataracts. You may want to read the NCI fact sheet Tamoxifen.
If you have gone through menopause, the options include:
Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. The drugs that treat breast cancer are usually given through a vein (intravenous) or as a pill. You’ll probably receive a combination of drugs.
You may receive chemotherapy in an outpatient part of the hospital, at the doctor’s office, or at home. Some women need to stay in the hospital during treatment.
Some anticancer drugs can damage the ovaries. If you have not gone through menopause yet, you may have hot flashes and vaginal dryness. Your menstrual periods may no longer be regular or may stop. You may become infertile (unable to become pregnant). For women over the age of 35, this damage to the ovaries is likely to be permanent.
On the other hand, you may remain able to become pregnant during chemotherapy. Before treatment begins, you should talk with your doctor about birth control because many drugs given during the first trimester are known to cause birth defects.
Clinical trials are carefully controlled research studies that test promising new therapies or procedures to advance cancer treatment.
Willamette Valley Cancer Institute and Research Center provides many investigational drugs through clinical trials, providing patients access to experimental treatments otherwise unavailable. If you’re interested in participating in a trial, your oncologist can help determine if you’re a candidate. To ensure safety, candidates are carefully screened.
Learn more about the latest developments in breast cancer research.