The Best Treatments for Breast Cancer

Contents

Causes of Breast Cancer
Symptoms of breast cancer
Stages of breast cancer
Medicines for breast cancer
Hormonotherapy
Targeted Therapy
Radiation therapy
Chemotherapy
Immunotherapy
Surgery for breast cancer
Popular questions and answers

Breast cancer is a common and very dangerous disease. We will figure out what methods of treatment for breast cancer exist, and whether it is possible to do without surgery

Modern medicine uses several methods of treating breast cancer (BC), and therapy is selected individually for each patient. For some, drugs are enough, for others, radiation and surgery are indicated. Together with experts, we will analyze the most effective methods of treating breast cancer, tell you what hormone therapy and targeted therapy are, and in which cases surgery is indispensable.

All methods of breast cancer treatment can be divided into 2 groups – medicinal and surgical. Let’s take a closer look at each of the methods. But first, let’s talk about the causes of this disease and the stages.

Causes of Breast Cancer

Age over 40 – Breast cancer is most common in older women.
hereditary factor. Unfortunately, if there were those in the maternal lineage who had breast cancer or ovarian cancer, namely, a grandmother, sister, aunt, then you are at risk.
Late first birth.
Constant stress, especially chronic.
Education in the mammary gland – even benign.
Bad habits – smoking, drinking alcohol.
Obesity.
Lack of healthy foods in the diet, excess carbohydrates and trans fats.

Symptoms of breast cancer

Many women believe that breasts with breast cancer must hurt. However, it is not. Sometimes oncology proceeds completely unnoticed and is detected only in the last stages, when the treatment is no longer so effective.

Our expert oncologist, mammologist, surgeon Gulnur Nigmanova notes that pain in breast cancer is often completely absent, so it is not necessary to focus on them.

– Basically, women find seals in themselves. This is the very first symptom. Sometimes they are quite large. This happens when a woman takes a shower, and her fingers glide well over her soapy body. A malignant tumor is very easy to distinguish from a fibroadenoma (benign) – the latter rolls over and changes its location, but a cancerous tumor always remains in place, – explains oncologist, mammologist Gulnur Nigmanova

The following symptoms include the so-called “lemon peel”, when the chest in the truest sense of the word resembles the peel of a lemon. The tumor grows and deforms the skin, as a result of which the tissues swell and go inside.

An inverted nipple is also a dangerous symptom. If you have always had it normal, normal and suddenly deformed, then this is an alarming sign, and it is better not to delay a visit to a mammologist.

Another important symptom is spotting from the nipple. Allocations of different colors (green, purulent, white) may occur due to other reasons. Blood – almost always speaks of oncology.

Stages of breast cancer

1 stage	At this stage, the malignancy is still small (about 2 cm), the lymph nodes are not enlarged. Cancer found at this stage is highly treatable.
2 stage	The tumor is already more than 3 cm, but you should not focus only on the size. If the tumor is still 2 cm, but the lymph nodes are enlarged, this is stage 2.
3 stage	The tumor grows rapidly and can reach 5 cm. Lymph nodes are enlarged not only in the armpits, but also in other parts of the body that are located nearby – the skin of the chest, chest.
4 stage	Metastases appear. This means that cancer destroys other internal organs – bones, lungs.

The sooner you detect the disease, the more effective the treatment will be. Unfortunately, at stage 4, the chances of recovery are minimal.

Medicines for breast cancer

Drug therapy is the leading treatment for breast cancer. It combines chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy, and other therapies using drugs. Currently, such therapy can be used:

before surgery – in order to reduce the volume of the tumor and make surgery less traumatic and more effective. Thanks to drugs for breast cancer, the tumor can almost completely disappear, and then the woman manages to save her breast.
after surgery – in order to prevent re-growth of the tumor;
with metastases. If a patient has cancer cells not only in the mammary gland, but also in other organs, then the only method is drug therapy.

There are many benefits to breast cancer drug treatment:

high efficiency. Drugs affect not only the tumor itself, but also spread throughout the body, reaching metastases;
lack of surgical intervention;
drugs can be combined with other treatments.

– One of the problems in the treatment of breast cancer is the resistance (resistance) of cancer cells to drugs. However, new classes of drugs have now emerged that allow this resistance to be overcome.

Dina SakaevaDoctor of Medical Sciences, Professor

Hormonotherapy

In the treatment of breast cancer, hormones may be used instead of chemotherapy. They are resorted to when patients have hormone-dependent tumors¹. According to oncologists, hormone therapy is considered more gentle, less toxic and at the same time no less effective method of treating breast cancer.

The doctor prescribes the drug for treatment after a complete diagnosis of the patient and a detailed study of the characteristics of the tumor. During treatment, the drug can be changed – it depends on how the tumor reacts to the drug.

Medicines such as Tamoxifen and Fulvestrant are taken as tablets and block the action of estrogen.

The drugs Anastrozole and Letrozole inhibit the synthesis of estrogens. Medicines have shown themselves to be good in the treatment of stage 1 and 2 breast cancer.

Targeted Therapy

In addition to classical antitumor drugs, targeted drugs are also used in the treatment of breast cancer.

Targeted therapy is a highly targeted treatment modality. The drugs hit right on the target – certain proteins of cancer cells, without damaging anything else. Thanks to targeted therapy, it is possible to stop the growth of the tumor and its spread. Targeted therapy can be administered alone, or in tandem with chemotherapy, surgery, or radiation therapy.

– There are special, very aggressive forms of breast cancer, for example, HER2 positive breast cancer. HER2 is a protein that can trigger tumor growth and make it less responsive to conventional chemotherapy. In this case, the patient is injected with targeted drugs that block this protein and allow cytostatics to work well.². Previously, patients with this type of tumor had a very poor prognosis. Now, thanks to modern drugs that combine both the properties of a targeted drug and a cytostatic agent, this prognosis is significantly improving. Women live a very long time, – notes Dina Sakaeva.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy destroys tumor cells. It can be used as an independent method of treatment, and in tandem. At the same time, as an independent method, irradiation for breast cancer is rarely prescribed.

Radiation therapy is used:

before surgery – takes control of tumor growth, reduces the risk of metastases;
after surgery to prevent relapses, or if the patient has metastases in the axillary lymph nodes;
in the later stages, when the tumor cannot be removed. In this case, radiation therapy helps palliative patients – it relieves pain and improves the quality of life.

Chemotherapy

One of the main treatments for breast cancer is chemotherapy. Drugs are injected into the patient’s body that destroy cancer cells or inhibit their growth and development. However, “chemistry” not only hits the target, but also destroys other cells. Because of this, patients lose hair, vomiting, dizziness, and possible disturbances in the functioning of the heart and blood vessels.

In the first three stages of breast cancer treatment, “chemistry” is used together with surgery. At stage 4, it becomes the main method to control tumor growth and spread of metastases. Chemotherapy also helps palliative patients – increases life expectancy, relieves symptoms.

Basically, chemotherapy drugs are administered intravenously for several weeks in a hospital. Treatment course, the average interval between courses is 21 days.

Immunotherapy

In 2018, the Nobel Prize was received for the fact that a new direction in oncology has appeared – immunotherapy. This method of treatment involves the use of drugs that affect not the tumor, but the immune system.³. The drug activates its own immune cells against the tumor, and they begin to fight it. It is precisely those drugs for the treatment of breast cancer that affect the immune system that are now registered.

Surgery for breast cancer

Mastectomy

In a mastectomy, the breast is completely removed. In the modern world, such operations are being carried out less and less, and the task of doctors is to save the organ. It is for this purpose that drug and radiation therapy are prescribed before the operation. These methods allow you to minimize the size of the tumor, and sometimes achieve its complete disappearance.

Indications for mastectomy:

multicentric tumor growth is when several tumors grow in different places in the mammary gland;
when the size of the tumor is very large, and during chemotherapy it has not significantly decreased.

– After a mastectomy, a woman is fitted with prostheses, and the shape of the breast is restored. Therefore, in the modern world, even such an operation does not look crippling,” notes Dina Sakaeva.

Lumpectomy

But lumpectomy is an organ-preserving operation. In this case, only part of the breast is removed. During the operation, surgeons also capture a small amount of healthy tissue.⁴. Lumpectomy for breast cancer is advisable at stages 1 and 2, if there are no metastases, and the size of the tumor does not exceed 4 cm. The tissues that have been removed are sent for histology.

Brachytherapy

This is a modern type of radiotherapy, when special catheters are introduced into the mammary gland. Doctors inject a radioactive substance into them, which destroys tumor cells. Brachytherapy allows you to use higher doses of radiation to treat small areas, so the duration of treatment is reduced.