Invasive breast cancer occurs when cancer cells from inside the milk ducts or lobules break out into nearby breast tissue. Cancer cells can travel from the breast to other parts of the body through the blood stream or the lymphatic system.
They may travel early in the process when a tumor is small or later when a tumor is large. Learn about treatment for invasive breast cancer.
Metastatic breast cancer also called stage IV or advanced breast cancer is invasive breast cancer that has spread beyond the breast and axillary lymph nodes to other parts of the body most often the bones, lungs, liver or brain. Metastatic breast cancer is not a specific type of breast cancer, but rather the most advanced stage of breast cancer.
Hormonal therapy, also called anti-estrogen therapy or endocrine therapy, works by lowering the amount of estrogen in the body or blocking the estrogen from signaling breast cancer cells to grow.
In some cases of advanced-stage IDC, hormonal therapy can be given before surgery to help shrink the cancer called neoadjuvant treatment. Hormone receptors are special proteins found on the surface of certain cells throughout the body, including breast cells. In other words, the receptors act like an on-off switch for a particular activity in the cell. If the right substance comes along that fits into the receptor — like a key fitting into a lock — the switch is turned on and a particular activity in the cell begins.
Many breast cancer cells have high numbers of receptors for estrogen, progesterone, or both. This means that when these hormones are present, the cells receive a strong message to keep on growing and dividing — and this creates more cancer. If you take the hormone away or block it, the cancer cells don't receive the instructions to grow and divide and are less likely to survive. You and your doctor will work together to decide which form of hormonal therapy is best in your situation.
Two types of hormonal therapy are most frequently used:. Learn more about hormonal therapy. Targeted therapies are medicines that target specific characteristics of cancer cells, such as a protein that allows the cancer cells to grow in a fast or abnormal way. Targeted therapies affect the whole body, so they are considered systemic treatments. There are many targeted therapy medicines that fall into different drug classes depending on the characteristic they target.
Whether certain targeted therapies are used also may depend on your treatment history and other characteristics of the cancer. Targeted therapies that can be used to treat early-stage IDC, depending on the characteristics of the cancer and your individual situation, include:.
Targeted therapies that can be used to treat advanced-stage or metastatic IDC, depending on the characteristics of the cancer and your individual situation, include:. Clearly, the experience of metastatic breast cancer is quite different from early-stage breast cancer. Written by: Kristine Conner , contributing writer.
Reviewed by: Sameer Gupta, M. Pan H, et al. New Engl J Med. Create a profile for better recommendations. Breast implant illness BII is a term that some women and doctors use to refer to a wide range Sign up for emails about breast cancer news, virtual events, and more. Subscribe to our podcast for conversations on the issues that matter most. Join our online community to connect, share, and find peer support.
Was this article helpful? Can we help guide you? How does this work? Learn more. Are these recommendations helpful? Take a quick survey. This assessment, along with your age and medical history, will be used to help you and your doctor choose the most appropriate treatment for you. Recommended therapies may include:. Chemotherapy uses powerful drugs to kill cancer cells that remain in your body after surgery. Chemotherapy attacks undetected cancer cells, too small to be identified, in an effort to keep your cancer from returning.
The side effects of chemotherapy can be serious, since the treatment targets all rapidly dividing cells in your body, including healthy cells along with cancer cells.
The side effects of chemotherapy depend on the type of drugs you take and the duration of your treatment, and many will go away when treatment ends. They include:. The more aggressive your cancer appears, the more likely you are to receive chemotherapy along with surgery.
Radiation therapy is a highly effective and relatively safe way to destroy cancer cells that may still remain in your breast after surgery. In radiation therapy, a special kind of high-energy beam is delivered to the cancer cells either externally by a machine or internally by implanted pellets or seeds. If you are pregnant, or unable to commit to a daily treatment schedule for several weeks, you are not a candidate for radiation therapy. Radiation treatment is painless when administered, but can result in side effects that typically go away within several weeks of ending treatment.
Some of the most common side effects are:. Hormonal treatments are designed to block or lower the levels of the hormones in your body that stimulate the growth of your breast cancer.
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