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Standard therapy
Read about cancer treatment options listed by gene mutation, type of cancer and type of treatment.
Treatment for breast cancer
Doctors base treatment recommendations for breast cancer on several factors, including:
- of cancer
- Subtype based on pathology
- Additional testing, including biomarkers and other tests
- How fast the cancer is growing or how likely it is to spread
- Whether the cancer is newly-diagnosed or has recurred after one or more treatments
Local and
Treatment for breast cancer focuses on two approaches:
- Local therapy treats the breast and the surrounding to prevent the cancer from recurring. Local breast cancer therapies include:
- surgery
- radiation
- treats the entire body in order to prevent or control spread to other areas outside the breast. Treating the entire body with medications to destroy cancer cells that may have traveled in the body can help prevent future metastases. is also used to treat cancer that is already and has spread to distant organs. Systemic therapies include:
- chemotherapy
- hormonal (endocrine) therapy
- (e.g., Herceptin and other anti-HER2 therapies, Piqray)
- PARP inhibitors (a type of )
Timing of treatment
Breast cancer treatment may be given:
- before surgery (called neo-adjuvant or pre-operative therapy)
- after surgery in early cancer (called therapy or )
- for treatment of recurrent or advanced cancers
Treatment for
is usually treated with:
- Surgery: (surgery to remove the cancer but not the entire breast) followed by radiation or mastectomy. may be removed during surgery to see if the cancer has spread beyond the milk duct.
- Hormonal therapy: Most is ER-positive. Most people receive hormone therapy after surgery for .
Treatment for invasive cancer
Invasive breast cancer has spread beyond the milk duct or lobules into the surrounding tissue. Invasive breast cancer can spread within the breast, to the , the chest wall and to other parts of the body. It is usually treated by:
- Surgery: (surgery to remove the cancer but not the entire breast) followed by radiation or mastectomy (removal of the entire breast). are removed to see how much the cancer has spread.
- Hormonal therapy (also called endocrine therapy): Most people with hormone sensitive tumors () cancers receive hormone therapy after surgery. The most common types of hormonal therapies are:
- Selective receptor modulators (SERM) block cells from using . Example of common SERMs include tamoxifen and raloxifene.
- Selective receptor degraders (SERD) damage the receptors that cancer cells use to bind to . The SERDs with approval include Faslodex (fulvestrant) and Oserdu (elacestrant).
- Aromatase inhibitors (AI) block cells from making . Examples of aromatase inhibitors include Arimidex (anastrozole), Femara (letrozole) and Aromasin (exemestane).
- Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy is often used to treat breast cancer that is not hormone sensitive (ER-negative and PR-negative). Chemotherapy may be given before surgery (neo-adjuvant) to shrink the size of the cancer and number of affected and after surgery () to kill any remaining cancer cells that may have escaped the breast area. In the case of breast cancer, chemotherapy is often given to keep the cancer from growing.
- The most common chemotherapy agents used to treat newly-diagnosed breast cancer include one or more of the following:
- Cytoxan (cyclophosphomide)
- Taxotere (Docetaxol) or Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel)
- Adriamycin (Doxorubicin)
- In recurrent breast cancer or other situations, oncologists may use the following chemotherapy:
- Xeloda (capecitabine)
- Carboplatin
- Radiation therapy: Radiation therapy is used to treat the breast and sometimes surrounding after surgery to prevent recurrence. In people with breast cancer which has spread to their bones, brain or other sites, radiation is often given to reduce the size of the tumor and manage pain or other symptoms.
- Anti-HER2 therapy: breast cancer is usually treated with medications that target the protein.
- Other therapies such as , PARP inhibitors and other targeted therapies may be used to treat invasive breast cancer. Additional or genetic testing is often needed to help choose the patients most likely to respond to these treatments.
Last updated February 18, 2023
The following organizations offer peer support services for people with, or at high risk for breast cancer:
- FORCE peer support:
- Our Message Boards allow people to connect with others who share their situation. Once you register, you can post on the Diagnosed With Cancer board to connect with other people who have been diagnosed.
- Our Peer Navigation Program will match you with a volunteer who shares your mutation and situation.
- Connect online with our Private Facebook Group.
- Join our virtual and in-person support meetings.
- Other organizations that offer breast cancer support:
updated: 11/29/2022