Stage IV Breast Cancer Treatment Options
Stage IV Breast Cancer Treatment Options
With stage IV, the breast cancer has spread to other parts of your body. Often the bones, brain, lungs, or liver are affected. Because multiple areas may be involved, focused treatments like surgery or radiation alone may not be enough.
Treatment of stage IV doesn’t cure the disease. But by shrinking the cancer, it can often slow it down, help you feel better, and let you live longer. Patients with stage IV breast cancer may live for years, but it’s usually life-threatening at some point.
New Mammogram Screening Guidelines FAQ
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is recommending sweeping changes in its breast cancer screening guidelines.The USPSTF, which is a group of independent health experts convened by the Department of Health and Human Services, reviewed and commissioned research to develop computer-simulated models comparing the expected outcomes under different screening scenarios.Here are the USPSTF's recommendations, based on all that work: Routine screening of average-risk women should begin...
Read the New Mammogram Screening Guidelines FAQ article > >
Chemotherapy is often the main treatment for this stage. It can slow down the growth of the cancer. It’s often used in combination with hormone therapy.
You can get chemo several different ways. You may take pills or liquids, but often the drugs are put right into your veins. Depending on the type of treatment, it may be given in cycles that allow your body breaks in between.
Hormone therapy can be helpful for women with hormone receptor-positive cancers. That means the cancer needs hormones to grow. In these women, medications can prevent the tumor from getting the hormone. These drugs include tamoxifen for all women and anastrozole (Arimidex), exemestane (Aromasin), and letrozole (Femara) for postmenopausal women. Letrozole is sometimes taken with palbociclib (Ibrance), which slows cancer cell growth.
Women who haven't reached menopause may consider having their ovaries removed to stop them from making hormones that help cancer grow.
Targeted therapy is a newer treatment. About 20% of women with breast cancer have too much of a protein known as HER2, and it makes the cancer spread quickly. Women with HER2-positive cancer that has spread often take trastuzumab (Herceptin). It stops the protein from making the cancer cells grow. It may also boost your immune system, giving it the strength to fight the cancer itself. Often, people combine this treatment with chemotherapy. Sometimes doctors prescribe another medication, pertuzumab (Perjeta), to take along with trastuzumab and docetaxel (Taxotere).
After other treatments, your doctor may prescribe lapatinib (Tykerb) to treat HER2-positive advanced breast cancer. People who were previously treated with trastuzumab and a class of chemotherapy drugs called taxanes may also take ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla).
Treatment of stage IV doesn’t cure the disease. But by shrinking the cancer, it can often slow it down, help you feel better, and let you live longer. Patients with stage IV breast cancer may live for years, but it’s usually life-threatening at some point.
Recommended Related to Breast Cancer
New Mammogram Screening Guidelines FAQ
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is recommending sweeping changes in its breast cancer screening guidelines.The USPSTF, which is a group of independent health experts convened by the Department of Health and Human Services, reviewed and commissioned research to develop computer-simulated models comparing the expected outcomes under different screening scenarios.Here are the USPSTF's recommendations, based on all that work: Routine screening of average-risk women should begin...
Read the New Mammogram Screening Guidelines FAQ article > >
Treatments
Chemotherapy is often the main treatment for this stage. It can slow down the growth of the cancer. It’s often used in combination with hormone therapy.
You can get chemo several different ways. You may take pills or liquids, but often the drugs are put right into your veins. Depending on the type of treatment, it may be given in cycles that allow your body breaks in between.
Hormone therapy can be helpful for women with hormone receptor-positive cancers. That means the cancer needs hormones to grow. In these women, medications can prevent the tumor from getting the hormone. These drugs include tamoxifen for all women and anastrozole (Arimidex), exemestane (Aromasin), and letrozole (Femara) for postmenopausal women. Letrozole is sometimes taken with palbociclib (Ibrance), which slows cancer cell growth.
Women who haven't reached menopause may consider having their ovaries removed to stop them from making hormones that help cancer grow.
Targeted therapy is a newer treatment. About 20% of women with breast cancer have too much of a protein known as HER2, and it makes the cancer spread quickly. Women with HER2-positive cancer that has spread often take trastuzumab (Herceptin). It stops the protein from making the cancer cells grow. It may also boost your immune system, giving it the strength to fight the cancer itself. Often, people combine this treatment with chemotherapy. Sometimes doctors prescribe another medication, pertuzumab (Perjeta), to take along with trastuzumab and docetaxel (Taxotere).
After other treatments, your doctor may prescribe lapatinib (Tykerb) to treat HER2-positive advanced breast cancer. People who were previously treated with trastuzumab and a class of chemotherapy drugs called taxanes may also take ado-trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla).
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