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For anyone facing advanced breast cancer, treatment is a lifeline. When cancer reaches an advanced stage, it’s more important than ever for patients to understand all available treatment options, including clinical trials. Ongoing research continues to bring about new treatments, more than ever before, but patients must determine which are right for them. Treatments come with side effects, and some may be mild while others are more serious. The benefits must outweigh the side effects to be a viable treatment option.
Advanced breast cancer is referred to as stage IV if the cancer has already spread when the initial diagnosis is made. Metastatic breast cancer means cells from the original cancer site have spread to other organs. Breast cancer spreads when the cells of a tumor break away and travel through the body’s blood stream or lymph system. The cells usually settle in the bones, lungs, liver, or brain where new tumors begin to grow. This can occur without the patient even being aware. While advanced breast cancer often responds well to treatment, in most instances it can no longer be cured. The goal of treatment changes from curing the disease to keeping it under control as long as possible.
When breast cancer has spread throughout the body and is in an advanced stage, the treatment used must also work throughout the body, which is a systemic treatment. Chemotherapy, hormone therapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy and anti-angiogenesis agents are systemic treatments.
In advanced breast cancer, chemotherapy drugs are used to keep the cancer under control. If chemotherapy drugs are not effective in controlling the spread of cancer cells, they may still be used to help reduce any symptoms caused by the cancer. There are over 100 different drugs used in cancer treatment. They may be used alone or in combination depending on the type of cancer and how rapidly it spreads.
In addition to conventional chemotherapy the following may be used in treating advanced breast cancer:
Hormone therapy: Hormones or drugs that work like hormones are used to stop the body’s natural hormones from working effectively.
Immunotherapy: This treatment is also known as biologic therapy and is used to stimulate the body’s own immune system to better fight the cancer cells.
Targeted therapy: This is a newer cancer treatment where drugs are used to target a gene or protein in the cancer cells that that causes them to grow. An advantage of this type of treatment is that, unlike chemotherapy, these drugs target cancer cells only and not healthy cells.
Anti-angiogenesis agents: Cancer cells need a blood supply to live and these drugs work to prevent new blood vessels from feeding nutrients to the cancer cells. Essentially, the cells starve and die.
As breast cancer research continues, there may be clinical trials available as a treatment option. A clinical trial is one of the final pieces of research to test the effectiveness and safety of a new drug or treatment. Not every patient is eligible to participate in a specific clinical trial. If this is a consideration, talk to doctors to determine if a clinical trial is an option.
Treating advanced breast cancer is a challenge, but it’s definitely possible. It usually responds well to treatment and there are currently many available. With research, new and more effective treatments continue to evolve. Today, many women with advanced breast cancer live for a number of years with a good quality of life.
DISCLAIMER: The information and products on this website are in no way intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any cancer related illness, disease or condition whatsoever. Anyone looking for medical advice needs to contact a Licensed physician. Please read the disclaimer below for more information
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