Breast Cancer Treatment

Question 1

breast cancer treatment: mastectomy

Answer 1

*surgical removal of one or both breasts
*pros: reduces need for radiotherapy, safeguards the ability to receive radiotherapy in the case of recurrence, and ensures that the cancer is fully resected
*cons: extensive surgery, requiring substantial time

Question 2

breast cancer treatment: radiation therapy

Answer 2

*used as an adjunct to surgery & for recurrent disease

Question 3

breast cancer treatment: TAMOXIFEN

Answer 3

*a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) which blocks the stimulatory effect of estrogen on the cancer
*tamoxifen enters the cell and binds the estrogen receptor to prevent estrogen from binding the receptor and triggering increased cellular growth
*used for estrogen receptor positive breast cancer

Question 4

breast cancer treatment: HER2 targeted therapy

Answer 4

*TRASTUZUMAB: a monoclonal antibody that blocks the proliferative signal transduction pathway initiated by HER2 receptor binding
*ADEs: fever, infections, cough, headache, insomnia, rash

Question 5

breast cancer treatment: chemotherapy

Answer 5

*used early in treatment as part of adjuvant therapy to decrease risk of metastatis
*particularly valuable for pts whose cancer is hormone receptor negative or for triple-negative breast cancer
*commonly: cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and docetaxel