Breast Cancer Treatment

Breast cancer is primarily treated with surgery and often combined with chemotherapy, radiation therapy or both. It may also include other treatment options like targeted therapy, proton therapy and angiogenesis inhibitors. We will develop a comprehensive treatment plan unique to you.

Surgery

Many patients undergo some form of surgery as part of their breast cancer treatment.

Some will receive chemotherapy or targeted therapy before surgery. The goal of these treatments is to shrink the tumor and affected lymph nodes to make the procedure and recovery easier on the patient. This also allows the treating team to assess how cancer has responded to treatment, which can be important for some breast cancer subtypes.

There are two categories of breast cancer surgery:

• Lumpectomy: In a typical lumpectomy surgery, the tumor and a small amount of surrounding normal tissue are removed. This procedure may be appropriate for early breast cancer cases where the tumor is still small. Lumpectomies are generally outpatient procedures and have shorter recovery times. These procedures are usually followed by radiation therapy.
• Mastectomy: In a typical mastectomy surgery, the tumor and the entire breast are removed. There are several different types of mastectomies, including procedures that spare the breast’s skin and nipple/areola. Often a mastectomy and breast reconstruction can be performed in the same procedure.

In some cases, both breasts are removed (double mastectomy). This can help prevent the development of new breast cancer. It is typically done for patients who have an elevated risk of developing breast cancer due to family history or their own genetic profile, such as a BRCA mutation.

In both lumpectomies and mastectomies, surgeons may also remove nearby lymph nodes. Breast cancer can spread through nearby lymph nodes. Doctors will study the ones that are removed to determine if there are cancer cells within the nodes. This information can help determine the risk of the disease spreading to distant organs, as well as the need for chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Like all surgeries, breast cancer surgery is most successful when performed by a specialist with a great deal of experience in a particular procedure. MD Anderson’s breast cancer surgeons are among the most skilled and renowned in the world. They perform a large number of surgeries for breast cancer each year, using the least-invasive and most-effective techniques. At the start of treatment, care teams assess if the patient needs reconstructive surgery. If so, our breast cancer surgeons and reconstructive surgeons work together to plan procedures that minimize incision and possible scarring. Their goal is to achieve the most effective surgery and the best possible cosmetic outcome and symmetry.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy uses powerful drugs to directly kill cancer cells, control their growth or relieve pain. It is often given to patients before surgery to shrink the tumor and simplify the procedure. Breast cancer patients can receive chemotherapy either orally or intravenously.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy uses powerful beams of energy carefully designed to kill breast cancer cells.

For breast cancer patients, radiation therapy can be used before surgery to shrink large tumors and make the surgery easier on the patient. Radiation therapy can also be used after surgery to kill any remaining breast cancer cells that can’t be seen by the naked eye. After a lumpectomy, patients often receive three to four weeks of daily radiation therapy. In some cases, one to two weeks may be appropriate. When the lymph nodes are involved or a mastectomy is performed, patients usually need six weeks of daily radiation therapy.

In metastatic breast cancer cases, radiation therapy can also be used as a palliative treatment to reduce symptoms caused by cancer spreading to other parts of the body and improve the patient’s quality of life.

There are different techniques used in radiation therapy. Your doctors and radiation oncologist will collaborate to make sure you receive the most effective and precise dose of treatment. Radiation therapy treatments for breast cancer patients include:

• 3D conformal radiation therapy: This technique uses radiation beams that are shaped to the tumor’s dimension.
• Intensity-modulated radiation therapy: IMRT uses multiple beams of radiation with different intensities to deliver a precise, high dose of radiation to the tumor.
• Volumetric arc therapy: VMAT is a special type of IMRT. In VMAT, the section of the machine that shoots out the beam of radiation rotates around the patient in an arc. This can irradiate the tumor more precisely and shorten procedure times.
• Accelerated partial breast irradiation: A form of brachytherapy, APBI uses radioactive pellets or seeds to kill cancer cells that may remain after a lumpectomy.
• Stereotactic body radiation therapy: Stereotactic body radiation therapy administers very high doses of radiation, using several beams of various intensities aimed at different angles to precisely target the tumor.
• Stereotactic radiosurgery: Stereotactic radiosurgery is most commonly used to treat breast cancer that has spread to the brain. Stereotactic radiosurgery uses dozens of tiny radiation beams to target tumors with a precise, high dose of radiation.

At most hospitals, the radiation oncologist developing these treatments works on several different types of cancer. At MD Anderson's Breast Center, radiation oncologists are dedicated exclusively to caring for patients with breast cancer. This gives them the incredibly deep experience to draw from when designing treatment plans. Each breast cancer radiation treatment plan is also reviewed by every breast radiation oncology faculty member, ensuring that patients receive the best possible treatment.

Our physicians are recognized as world leaders in their field. MD Anderson radiation oncologists have developed radiation therapy treatments shown to deliver the most effective radiation courses in the shortest amount of time and with the fewest side effects.

Proton therapy

Proton therapy is similar to the radiation therapies described above, but it uses a different type of energy and is much more accurate at targeting tumors. It delivers high radiation doses directly into the tumor, sparing nearby healthy tissue and vital organs. For many patients, this results in better cancer control with fewer side effects.

Targeted therapy

Cancer cells rely on specific molecules (often in the form of proteins) to survive, multiply and spread. Targeted therapies stop or slow the growth of cancer by interfering with, or targeting, these molecules or the genes that produce them.

In recent years, targeted therapy has become a major weapon in the fight against breast cancer. Breast cancer subtypes that once had poor prognoses are now highly treatable.

One type of targeted therapy is endocrine therapy  (also known as hormone therapy), which is given to patients with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. This can be given before surgery to shrink the tumor. It is also given after surgery for five to 10 years to prevent a recurrence. Patients with the metastatic form of this disease are also given endocrine therapy to prevent disease progression.

Patients with HER2-positive breast cancer also receive targeted therapies. These patients may receive a different set of targeted therapy drugs both before and after surgery. Since about half of patients with HER2-positive breast cancer also have hormone receptor-positive tumors, they are also given endocrine therapy.

While there are no targeted therapies for triple-negative breast cancer, researchers are studying the disease to identify possible drug targets.

Angiogenesis inhibitors

Angiogenesis is the process of creating new blood vessels. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is one of the main molecules that control the process. Some cancerous tumors are very efficient at using these molecules to create new blood vessels, which increases blood supply to the tumor and allows it to grow rapidly.

Researchers developed drugs called angiogenesis inhibitors, or anti-angiogenic therapy, to disrupt the growth process. These drugs search out and bind themselves to VEGF molecules, These drugs search out and bind themselves to VEGF molecules or receptor proteins, prohibiting them from activating angiogenesis.