Breast Medical Oncology and Chemotherapy Treatments

Open Lines of Communications During Breast Cancer Oncology Treatment

Throughout the breast cancer treatment process, our goal is to keep the lines of communication open. We provide the patient, family members and referring physician with ongoing updates and aim to answer any questions that arise.

Advanced Medical Therapies

At UH Seidman Cancer Center, our breast cancer oncology team considers several factors when developing a treatment plan, including the type of cancer and the individual needs of each patient. Personalized treatment plans may include chemotherapy, hormone therapy, immunotherapy or novel treatments available only through a clinical trial.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy for breast cancer uses drugs to target and kill breast cancer cells. In general, these drugs are given as an infusion or taken orally as pills. When treating breast cancer, chemotherapy is often used with other treatments, such as surgery, radiation or hormone therapy.

Chemotherapy for breast cancer may be recommended in the following cases:

• After breast cancer surgery: Your medical oncologist may recommend chemotherapy after surgery to destroy any remaining cancer cells and reduce the chances of the cancer recurring. This is also called adjuvant chemotherapy.
• Before breast cancer surgery: Chemotherapy may be given before surgery (known as neoadjuvant therapy or preoperative chemotherapy) to shrink larger tumors.
• As the primary treatment for advanced breast cancer: If surgery isn't an option because breast cancer has spread to other parts of the body, chemotherapy may be the primary treatment. Chemotherapy may be used in combination with targeted therapy. Also called biological therapy, targeted therapy uses certain anti-cancer drugs that work by blocking the growth and spread of cancer at the cellular level.

Hormone Therapy

Hormone therapy starves cancer cells of the hormones they need to grow and multiply. It can be used to treat hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancers, which have cells with receptors for estrogen (ER+), progesterone (PR+) or both (ER/PR+). Receptors are proteins in cells that attach to certain substances in the blood, including the hormones estrogen and progesterone.

Hormone therapy drugs work by lowering the amount of hormones in the body that help cancer cell grow or by blocking those hormones from reaching cancer cells. When cancer cells can’t get what they need to grow, they shrink and die. Most types of hormone therapy are pills, though some are infusions. Because hormone therapy circulates through the body, it’s called a systemic treatment. Certain targeted therapy drugs called CDK4/6 inhibitors (palbociclib, ribociclib, abemaciclib) are used in combination with hormone therapy to slow down the growth and division of cancer cells.

Immunotherapy

Also known as biological therapy, immunotherapy uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer. Immunotherapies are designed to alert the immune system to the presence of cancer cells, so it can locate and destroy them.

Genomic Testing

To personalize treatment for breast cancer patients, UH Seidman Cancer Center offers genomic testing (genetic testing of the tumor) in select patients based on multidisciplinary recommendations. This allows us to offer personal recommendations based on the genetic features of the breast cancer.

Because most cancers are associated with damaged or mutated DNA, examining tumor cells at a molecular level can help identify targeted or genomic medicines that target and destroy cancer cells based on their unique genetic makeup.