Cutting-Edge Treatment for HER2-Negative Cancer
Reviewed by Poonam Sachdev on February 23, 2022
Video Transcript
Boone Goodgame: Cancer treatment
is so much more exciting now
than it was even 5 or 10 years
ago, because not only are
treatments so much better,
but they're so much easier
to take.
The stage of cancer
is one of the most important
things for a patient
to understand
about their cancer,
because that determines
the overall approach
to the treatment.
These days, most patients either have a lumpectomy or total mastectomy. After the tumor biopsy or after the surgery, then the cancer cells are analyzed in detail to look at all the cancer genes.
Final part of treatment is medical therapy. And for HER2-negative breast cancer, there are multiple different categories of medical therapy. If the tumor is bigger, if it has genes that are mutated that make it more aggressive, if it's spread to the lymph nodes, and if women are younger and healthier and more able to stand the side effects of chemotherapy, then chemotherapy is typically recommended. The most important, especially for estrogen-sensitive breast cancers, are the hormone-blocking medications that either block estrogen from getting to the cancer cells or deplete the body of estrogen, so it doesn't go on to feed the cancer cells.
The good thing about those cancers is that they often don't actually need chemotherapy. The hormone therapy is very important for preventing the cancer from coming back.
Treatment for HER2-negative metastatic or stage IV breast cancer is very different from treatment of early-stage breast cancer. The goal is to keep the cancer at bay for as long as possible, so women can live, hopefully, a very normal life for many, many years in spite of having stage IV metastatic breast cancer.
Just like in early-stage breast cancer, for hormone-sensitive breast cancer, those are the most important treatments and the most effective. One of the most exciting things these days is that we can actually combine targeted therapies with the estrogen-blocking therapies. There are several different classes of targeted therapies that are used for HER2-negative breast cancer.
And then on the most cutting edge, the newest classes of treatments are what we call immunotherapy that actually work with the body's immune system to allow the immune system to recognize the cancer and get rid of the cancer cells. And in the near future, we'll almost certainly have FDA-approved treatments and proof that these drugs actually work in breast cancer. And expect them to make a significant difference, especially in triple-negative and some of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer.
Obviously, nobody wants to be diagnosed with breast cancer. And it can be very scary for many women. I want women to know that they don't have to be afraid of the treatment because these days, with modern treatments, many women can get through breast cancer treatment without a lot of side effects. And the science is growing so fast. And it really is such an encouraging time.
These days, most patients either have a lumpectomy or total mastectomy. After the tumor biopsy or after the surgery, then the cancer cells are analyzed in detail to look at all the cancer genes.
Final part of treatment is medical therapy. And for HER2-negative breast cancer, there are multiple different categories of medical therapy. If the tumor is bigger, if it has genes that are mutated that make it more aggressive, if it's spread to the lymph nodes, and if women are younger and healthier and more able to stand the side effects of chemotherapy, then chemotherapy is typically recommended. The most important, especially for estrogen-sensitive breast cancers, are the hormone-blocking medications that either block estrogen from getting to the cancer cells or deplete the body of estrogen, so it doesn't go on to feed the cancer cells.
The good thing about those cancers is that they often don't actually need chemotherapy. The hormone therapy is very important for preventing the cancer from coming back.
Treatment for HER2-negative metastatic or stage IV breast cancer is very different from treatment of early-stage breast cancer. The goal is to keep the cancer at bay for as long as possible, so women can live, hopefully, a very normal life for many, many years in spite of having stage IV metastatic breast cancer.
Just like in early-stage breast cancer, for hormone-sensitive breast cancer, those are the most important treatments and the most effective. One of the most exciting things these days is that we can actually combine targeted therapies with the estrogen-blocking therapies. There are several different classes of targeted therapies that are used for HER2-negative breast cancer.
And then on the most cutting edge, the newest classes of treatments are what we call immunotherapy that actually work with the body's immune system to allow the immune system to recognize the cancer and get rid of the cancer cells. And in the near future, we'll almost certainly have FDA-approved treatments and proof that these drugs actually work in breast cancer. And expect them to make a significant difference, especially in triple-negative and some of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer.
Obviously, nobody wants to be diagnosed with breast cancer. And it can be very scary for many women. I want women to know that they don't have to be afraid of the treatment because these days, with modern treatments, many women can get through breast cancer treatment without a lot of side effects. And the science is growing so fast. And it really is such an encouraging time.