CIENCIASMEDICASNEWS: Breast Cancer Treatment (PDQ®) 3/3 —Patient Version

Breast Cancer Treatment (PDQ®)—Patient Version - National Cancer Institute

Treatment for breast cancer may cause side effects.

For information about side effects that begin during treatment for cancer, see our Side Effects page.

Some treatments for breast cancer may cause side effects that continue or appear months or years after treatment has ended. These are called late effects.

Late effects of radiation therapy are not common, but may include:

Inflammation of the lung after radiation therapy to the breast, especially when chemotherapy is given at the same time.
Arm lymphedema, especially when radiation therapy is given after lymph node dissection.
In women younger than 45 years who receive radiation therapy to the chest wall after mastectomy, there may be a higher risk of developing breast cancer in the other breast.

Late effects of chemotherapy depend on the drugs used, but may include:

Late effects of targeted therapy with trastuzumab, lapatinib, or pertuzumab may include:

Heart problems such as heart failure.

Patients may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial.

For some patients, taking part in a clinical trial may be the best treatment choice. Clinical trials are part of the cancer research process. Clinical trials are done to find out if new cancer treatments are safe and effective or better than the standard treatment.

Many of today's standard treatments for cancer are based on earlier clinical trials. Patients who take part in a clinical trial may receive the standard treatment or be among the first to receive a new treatment.

Patients who take part in clinical trials also help improve the way cancer will be treated in the future. Even when clinical trials do not lead to effective new treatments, they often answer important questions and help move research forward.

Patients can enter clinical trials before, during, or after starting their cancer treatment.

Some clinical trials only include patients who have not yet received treatment. Other trials test treatments for patients whose cancer has not gotten better. There are also clinical trials that test new ways to stop cancer from recurring (coming back) or reduce the side effects of cancer treatment.

Clinical trials are taking place in many parts of the country. Information about clinical trials supported by NCI can be found on NCI’s clinical trials search webpage. Clinical trials supported by other organizations can be found on the ClinicalTrials.gov website.

Follow-up tests may be needed.

Some of the tests that were done to diagnose the cancer or to find out the stage of the cancer may be repeated. Some tests will be repeated in order to see how well the treatment is working. Decisions about whether to continue, change, or stop treatment may be based on the results of these tests.

Some of the tests will continue to be done from time to time after treatment has ended. The results of these tests can show if your condition has changed or if the cancer has recurred (come back). These tests are sometimes called follow-up tests or check-ups.

Treatment Options for Breast Cancer

For information about the treatments listed below, see the Treatment Option Overviewsection.

Early, Localized, or Operable Breast Cancer

Treatment of early, localized, or operable breast cancer may include the following:

Surgery

Breast-conserving surgery and sentinel lymph node biopsy. If cancer is found in the lymph nodes, a lymph node dissection may be done.
Modified radical mastectomy. Breast reconstruction surgery may also be done.

Postoperative radiation therapy

For women who had breast-conserving surgery, radiation therapy is given to the whole breast to lessen the chance the cancer will come back. Radiation therapy may also be given to lymph nodes in the area.

For women who had a modified radical mastectomy, radiation therapy may be given to lessen the chance the cancer will come back if any of the following are true:

Cancer was found in 4 or more lymph nodes.
Cancer had spread to tissue around the lymph nodes.
The tumor was large.
There is tumor close to or remaining in the tissue near the edges of where the tumor was removed.

Postoperative systemic therapy

Systemic therapy is the use of drugs that can enter the bloodstream and reach cancer cellsthroughout the body. Postoperative systemic therapy is given to lessen the chance the cancer will come back after surgery to remove the tumor.

Postoperative systemic therapy is given depending on whether:

The tumor is hormone receptor negative or positive.
The tumor is HER2/neu negative or positive.
The tumor is hormone receptor negative and HER2/neu negative (triple negative).
The size of the tumor.

In premenopausal women with hormone receptor positive tumors, no more treatment may be needed or postoperative therapy may include:

Tamoxifen therapy with or without chemotherapy.
Tamoxifen therapy and treatment to stop or lessen how much estrogen is made by the ovaries. Drug therapy, surgery to remove the ovaries, or radiation therapy to the ovaries may be used.
Aromatase inhibitor therapy and treatment to stop or lessen how much estrogen is made by the ovaries. Drug therapy, surgery to remove the ovaries, or radiation therapy to the ovaries may be used.

In postmenopausal women with hormone receptor positive tumors, no more treatment may be needed or postoperative therapy may include:

Aromatase inhibitor therapy with or without chemotherapy.
Tamoxifen followed by aromatase inhibitor therapy, with or without chemotherapy.

In women with hormone receptor negative tumors, no more treatment may be needed or postoperative therapy may include:

Chemotherapy.

In women with HER2/neu negative tumors, postoperative therapy may include:

Chemotherapy.

In women with small, HER2/neu positive tumors, and no cancer in the lymph nodes, no more treatment may be needed. If there is cancer in the lymph nodes, or the tumor is large, postoperative therapy may include:

Chemotherapy and targeted therapy (trastuzumab).
Hormone therapy, such as tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitor therapy, for tumors that are also hormone receptor positive.

In women with small, hormone receptor negative and HER2/neu negative tumors (triple negative) and no cancer in the lymph nodes, no more treatment may be needed. If there is cancer in the lymph nodes or the tumor is large, postoperative therapy may include:

Chemotherapy.
Radiation therapy.
A clinical trial of a new chemotherapy regimen.
A clinical trial of PARP inhibitor therapy.

Preoperative systemic therapy

Systemic therapy is the use of drugs that can enter the bloodstream and reach cancer cells throughout the body. Preoperative systemic therapy is given to shrink the tumor before surgery.

In postmenopausal women with hormone receptor positive tumors, preoperative therapy may include:

Chemotherapy.
Hormone therapy, such as tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitor therapy, for women who cannot have chemotherapy.

In premenopausal women with hormone receptor positive tumors, preoperative therapy may include:

A clinical trial of hormone therapy, such as tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitor therapy.

In women with HER2/neu positive tumors, preoperative therapy may include:

Chemotherapy and targeted therapy (trastuzumab).
Targeted therapy (pertuzumab).

In women with HER2/neu negative tumors or triple negative tumors, preoperative therapy may include:

Chemotherapy.
A clinical trial of a new chemotherapy regimen.
A clinical trial of monoclonal antibody therapy.

Use our clinical trial search to find NCI-supported cancer clinical trials that are accepting patients. You can search for trials based on the type of cancer, the age of the patient, and where the trials are being done. General information about clinical trials is also available.

Locally Advanced or Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Treatment of locally advanced or inflammatory breast cancer is a combination of therapiesthat may include the following:

Surgery (breast-conserving surgery or total mastectomy) with lymph node dissection.
Chemotherapy before and/or after surgery.
Radiation therapy after surgery.
Hormone therapy after surgery for tumors that are estrogen receptor positive or estrogen receptor unknown.
Clinical trials testing new anticancer drugs, new drug combinations, and new ways of giving treatment.

Locoregional Recurrent Breast Cancer

Treatment of locoregional recurrent breast cancer (cancer that has come back after treatment in the breast, in the chest wall, or in nearby lymph nodes), may include the following:

Chemotherapy.
Hormone therapy for tumors that are hormone receptor positive.
Radiation therapy.
Surgery.
Targeted therapy (trastuzumab).
A clinical trial of a new treatment.

See the Metastatic Breast Cancer section for information about treatment options for breast cancer that has spread to parts of the body outside the breast, chest wall, or nearby lymph nodes.

Metastatic Breast Cancer

Treatment options for metastatic breast cancer (cancer that has spread to distant parts of the body) may include the following:

Hormone therapy

In postmenopausal women who have just been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer that is hormone receptor positive or if the hormone receptor status is not known, treatment may include:

Tamoxifen therapy.
Aromatase inhibitor therapy (anastrozole, letrozole, or exemestane). Sometimes cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor therapy (palbociclib, ribociclib, or abemaciclib) is also given.

In premenopausal women who have just been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer that is hormone receptor positive, treatment may include:

Tamoxifen, an LHRH agonist, or both.
Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor therapy (ribociclib).

In women whose tumors are hormone receptor positive or hormone receptor unknown, with spread to the bone or soft tissue only, and who have been treated with tamoxifen, treatment may include:

Aromatase inhibitor therapy.
Other hormone therapy such as megestrol acetate, estrogen or androgen therapy, or anti-estrogen therapy such as fulvestrant.

Targeted therapy

In women with metastatic breast cancer that is hormone receptor positive and has not responded to other treatments, options may include targeted therapy such as:

Trastuzumab, lapatinib, pertuzumab, or mTOR inhibitors.
Antibody-drug conjugate therapy with ado-trastuzumab emtansine.
Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor therapy (palbociclib, ribociclib, or abemaciclib) which may be combined with hormone therapy.

In women with metastatic breast cancer that is HER2/neu positive, treatment may include:

Targeted therapy such as trastuzumab, pertuzumab, ado-trastuzumab emtansine, or lapatinib.

In women with metastatic breast cancer that is HER2 negative, with mutations in the BRCA1or BRCA2 genes, and who have been treated with chemotherapy, treatment may include:

Targeted therapy with a PARP inhibitor (olaparib or talazoparib).

Chemotherapy

In women with metastatic breast cancer that is hormone receptor negative, has not responded to hormone therapy, has spread to other organs or has caused symptoms, treatment may include:

Chemotherapy with one or more drugs.

Surgery

Total mastectomy for women with open or painful breast lesions. Radiation therapymay be given after surgery.
Surgery to remove cancer that has spread to the brain or spine. Radiation therapy may be given after surgery.
Surgery to remove cancer that has spread to the lung.
Surgery to repair or help support weak or broken bones. Radiation therapy may be given after surgery.
Surgery to remove fluid that has collected around the lungs or heart.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy to the bones, brain, spinal cord, breast, or chest wall to relieve symptoms and improve quality of life.
Strontium-89 (a radionuclide) to relieve pain from cancer that has spread to bones throughout the body.

Other treatment options

Other treatment options for metastatic breast cancer include:

Drug therapy with bisphosphonates or denosumab to reduce bone disease and pain when cancer has spread to the bone. (See the PDQ summary on Cancer Pain for more information about bisphosphonates.)
A clinical trial of high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplant.
Clinical trials testing new anticancer drugs, new drug combinations, and new ways of giving treatment.

Treatment Options for Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS)

For information about the treatments listed below, see the Treatment Option Overviewsection.

Treatment of ductal carcinoma in situ may include the following:

Breast-conserving surgery and radiation therapy, with or without tamoxifen.
Total mastectomy with or without tamoxifen. Radiation therapy may also be given.

To Learn More About Breast Cancer

For more information from the National Cancer Institute about breast cancer, see the following:

For general cancer information and other resources from the National Cancer Institute, see the following:

About This PDQ Summary

About PDQ

Physician Data Query (PDQ) is the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) comprehensive cancer information database. The PDQ database contains summaries of the latest published information on cancer prevention, detection, genetics, treatment, supportive care, and complementary and alternative medicine. Most summaries come in two versions. The health professional versions have detailed information written in technical language. The patient versions are written in easy-to-understand, nontechnical language. Both versions have cancer information that is accurate and up to date and most versions are also available in Spanish.

PDQ is a service of the NCI. The NCI is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH is the federal government’s center of biomedical research. The PDQ summaries are based on an independent review of the medical literature. They are not policy statements of the NCI or the NIH.

Purpose of This Summary

This PDQ cancer information summary has current information about the treatment of breast cancer. It is meant to inform and help patients, families, and caregivers. It does not give formal guidelines or recommendations for making decisions about health care.

Reviewers and Updates

Editorial Boards write the PDQ cancer information summaries and keep them up to date. These Boards are made up of experts in cancer treatment and other specialties related to cancer. The summaries are reviewed regularly and changes are made when there is new information. The date on each summary ("Updated") is the date of the most recent change.

The information in this patient summary was taken from the health professional version, which is reviewed regularly and updated as needed, by the PDQ Adult Treatment Editorial Board.

Clinical Trial Information

A clinical trial is a study to answer a scientific question, such as whether one treatment is better than another. Trials are based on past studies and what has been learned in the laboratory. Each trial answers certain scientific questions in order to find new and better ways to help cancer patients. During treatment clinical trials, information is collected about the effects of a new treatment and how well it works. If a clinical trial shows that a new treatment is better than one currently being used, the new treatment may become "standard." Patients may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial. Some clinical trials are open only to patients who have not started treatment.

Clinical trials can be found online at NCI's website. For more information, call the Cancer Information Service (CIS), NCI's contact center, at 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237).

Permission to Use This Summary

PDQ is a registered trademark. The content of PDQ documents can be used freely as text. It cannot be identified as an NCI PDQ cancer information summary unless the whole summary is shown and it is updated regularly. However, a user would be allowed to write a sentence such as “NCI’s PDQ cancer information summary about breast cancer prevention states the risks in the following way: [include excerpt from the summary].”

The best way to cite this PDQ summary is:

PDQ® Adult Treatment Editorial Board. PDQ Breast Cancer Treatment. Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute. Updated <MM/DD/YYYY>. Available at: https://www.cancer.gov/types/breast/patient/breast-treatment-pdq. Accessed <MM/DD/YYYY>. [PMID: 26389406]

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