The main aim of treatment for metastatic breast cancer is to improve your quality of life by reducing any symptoms you may be experiencing.
Some treatments for metastatic breast cancer help lessen your symptoms by stopping the cancer from growing or by decreasing the size of the cancer for a period of time, even years. By doing this, treatment may also improve the length of your life, but this has not been proved in a clinical trial. Every woman's situation and breast cancer is different. Treatment that is best for one woman may not be suitable for another woman.
If you have been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer you will usually be recommended to have one or more general anti-cancer treatments. You may also be recommended to have one or more specific treatments. The specific treatments recommended to you will depend on where the cancer is in your body and the symptoms that you are experiencing.
General anti-cancer treatments
General anti-cancer treatments are treatments that work on the whole body to control the size and spread of the cancer. By doing this, they help relieve symptoms. They include:
- Hormonal therapies
Hormonal therapies act on the female hormones in the body to stop the cancer from growing.
Hormonal therapies may be recommended if your cancer has estrogen receptors on it. - Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy includes drugs that destroy all rapidly dividing cells in the body, such as cancer cells.
Chemotherapy may be recommended if hormonal therapies are not appropriate for you or if hormonal therapies are no longer keeping your cancer under control.
Specific treatments
You may also be recommended to have one or more specific treatments. The specific treatments recommended to you will depend on where the cancer is in your body and the symptoms that you are experiencing.
- If you have been diagnosed with cancer in your bone, you may
be recommended to have one or more of the following treatments:
- Radiotherapy involves X-rays directed at the cancer in your bone. It may be used to help relieve bone pain, treat cancer in the spine,and prevent and treat fractures.
- Surgery may be used to treat or prevent a bone fracture, to replace a joint affected by cancer or to treat or prevent compression of the spine affected by cancer.
- Bisphosphonates are drugs that may be used to slow down the growth of the cancer in the bone, and help reduce bone pain and other symptoms such as hypercalcaemia.
- Pain relief involves drug and non-drug treatments such as muscle relaxation and acupuncture.
- If you have been diagnosed with cancer in yourlungs, you may be recommended to have one or
more of the following treatments:
- Surgery may be used to reduce any fluid in the pleural cavity, the space around the lungs.
- Surgery may also be used to remove cancer in the lungs (if there is only one small cancer). However, this is uncommon.
- Relaxation therapy may be used for shortness of breath and pain relief.
- Pain relief involves drug and non-drug treatments.
- If you have been diagnosed with cancer in your brain, you may
be recommended to have one or more of the following treatments:
- Radiotherapy involves X-rays directed at the cancer in the brain. It can reduce the size of the cancer in the brain and relieve symptoms.
- Surgery may be used to remove cancer in the brain (if there is only one small cancer), or to drain any excess fluid in the brain. Surgery is uncommon for cancer in the brain.
- Pain relief involves drug and non-drug treatments such as muscle relaxation.
- If you have been diagnosed with cancer in your liver, you may
be recommended to have one or more of the following treatments:
- Surgery may be used to remove cancer in the liver (if there is only one small cancer). However, this is uncommon.
- Pain relief involves drug and non-drug treatments such as muscle relaxation.
- Drugs for nausea.
- Dietary management and drugs for weight loss and lack of appetite.
Other new treatments
New treatments and technologies are continually emerging. Before treatments can be recommended by your doctor they usually need to be studied in a clinical trial to prove their benefit to women with metastatic breast cancer. For example, trastuzumab (Herceptin®) is a new treatment that has been shown to be of benefit for some women with metastatic breast cancer.
