Chemotherapy for Carcinoma of Breast
The medical oncologist will be in charge of the patient's chemotherapy. He will take time with his patients to educate them regarding this illness and treatment options. He should explain the details of chemotherapy regimens, potential side effects and any long-term ill effects. Patients should feel comfortable to discuss their problems with him and he should be available to them at all times.
There are a few established regimens of chemotherapy for breast cancer including TC, TCH, ACT, ACTH, TAC, CMF and CAF. Other new active drugs are Adriamycin, Taxol, Taxotere, Cytoxan, Herceptin and Navelbine. Some older drugs are Mitomycin, Alkeran, Velban, Vincristine, Mitoxantrone. Newest drug in the market for treatment of breast cancer is Herceptin and Lapatinib for Her2/Neu positive tumors.
With rare exceptions, every patient should have a Port-A-Cath to receive chemotherapy. These regimens are outpatient regimens which are administered in the oncologist's office or in a hospital outpatient setting.
Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Early Stage breast cancer:
Breast cancer, even if diagnosed at early stages, is assumed to be a systemic disease, meaning that there always is a possibility of cancer spread to other parts of body, even if the original tumor is very small. This spread, since it can not be detected with X rays or other diagnostic methods is referred to as Micrometastasis. Most women will benefit from adjuvant therapies. This has been proven by many national and international clinical studies. The recommendations are that almost all women with early stage breast cancer, who can tolerate chemotherapy should be treated, regardless of the Lymph Node involvement or Estrogen or progesterone receptor status of the tumor. Hormonal treatment is appropriate for elderly or those who for other reasons can not tolerate chemotherapy. For women who have ER+ disease, Hormonal treatment with Tamoxifen or similar agents should also be used.
Treatment of Advanced Stage breast cancer: Hormonal treatments in women with advanced stage breast cancer is commonly used for ER+ PR+ disease. This is also complemented in majority of patients with some combination of chemotherapy as well. Most chemotherapy regimens contain two drugs, also know as "doublets".
Oncotype DX is a tumor genetic test that can provide risk of recurrence of individual patients. Patients with high Oncotype DX score should be considered for more aggressive treatments.
TREATMENT BY CHEMOTHERAPY
TREATMENT BY CHEMOTHERAPY
