Breast cancer treatment has come a long way in becoming tailored to the unique features of a person and their cancer. Below, we will walk through four steps that you and your health care team can go through to help you find the treatment plan that works best for you.
Decades ago, a mastectomy was the standard treatment for nearly all cases of early-stage breast cancer. Today, advancements in personalized medicine and research have led to treatment plans that balance the most effective care with each person’s unique goals and circumstances. This guide primarily focuses on helping individuals with early-stage or locally-advanced breast cancer navigate treatment options, but some of the information may also be relevant to more advanced types of breast cancer or other types like metastatic breast cancer (MBC) or ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS); however, treatment approaches may involve other considerations that should be discussed with your doctor.
Step 1: Know Your Options
Breast cancer treatments generally include some combination of surgery, radiation therapy and drug therapy. The right combination depends on several factors including the type and stage of your breast cancer, overall health and personal preferences. For example, early-stage hormone receptor-positive breast cancer is often treated with surgery followed by hormone therapy, while HER2-positive breast cancer may involve targeted therapies like trastuzumab, which specifically targets the HER2 protein on the surface of cancer cells.
To make informed decisions, it’s essential to understand your diagnosis in addition to your treatment options. Ask your doctor questions about your tumor’s biomarkers including hormone receptor status and HER2 status. You may also want to ask if you should have a tumor profiling test or genetic testing to look for inherited gene mutations like BRCA1 or BRCA 2.
You can also talk with your doctor before you start treatment about a clinical trial, which we discuss further in Step 4.
Step 2. Discuss Your Goals With Your Doctor
Your personal circumstances and priorities matter. Whether it’s maintaining your energy for an upcoming triathlon or considering how treatment might affect family planning , these parts of your life are important to share with your doctor.
Open communication about your goals and values can help you and your doctor make decisions together about your treatment plan. For example, if side effects such as fatigue or nausea impact your quality of life, your care health care team can adjust dosages or explore other treatments.
After you get a recommended treatment plan from your health care team, take time to study different paths. Each treatment has risks and benefits worth considering. Talk with your health care team about your values and lifestyle. Discuss with those closest to you. Make thoughtful and informed decisions that are best for you. If you aren’t sure, consider getting a second opinion.
Step 3: Keep the Conversation Going
Breast cancer treatment doesn’t end with the initial diagnosis. Continuous dialogue with your doctor throughout your follow-up medical care is vital.
- Side effects: Let your doctor know about any side effects you’re having, so they know how you’re feeling and can help you. All breast cancer treatments have some short-term side effects and some treatments may have long-term (or late) effects on your heart, bones or other aspects of your physical and emotional health. Discuss what signs to watch for, when to report them and how you’ll be monitored over time.
- Accessing care: Let your doctor know if you have any concerns about getting to your appointments or completing (or following) your treatment plan. There may be resources available to help you. Your doctor may connect you with another member of your health care team, such as a social worker or patient navigator for support.
- Risk of recurrence: Ask your doctor about your risk of recurrence (the chance the cancer will come back) and steps you can take to reduce it like maintaining a healthy lifestyle or continuing hormone therapy as recommended as part of your treatment plan.
- Create a survivorship care plan: Ask your doctor to provide a detailed plan outlining your follow-up appointments and any ongoing screening tests you’ll need to monitor your health.
Step 4: Consider a Clinical Trial
Clinical trials offer access to recent and potentially more effective treatments that may improve current standards of care. For example, ongoing trials are testing new drugs like oral selective estrogen receptor degraders (SERDs) for early-stage breast cancer. SERDs show promise as a treatment option as they do not contribute to endocrine resistance or have the degree of negative side effects that other treatments do. You can read more about how VERITAC-2 and OPERA-1 clinical trials are testing SERDs and evaluating their ability to improve quality of life for patients with metastatic breast cancer and also for early-stage estrogen receptor positive cancer as in the Cambria-1 and Cambria-2 trials.
Clinical trials are critical for advancing breast cancer care, and it’s never too early or too late to explore this option. Breast cancer treatment is not one-size-fits-all. By knowing your options, clearly communicating your goals, staying proactive in your care and considering eligible clinical trials, you can take control of your treatment journey.
Read our Clinical Trials Fact Sheet
Read more personal stories at Spotlight on Clinical Trial
If you’re facing a breast cancer diagnosis and not sure where to begin, you’ve come to the right place. Our Know More series will continue to help educate you and arm you with the tools you’ll need to feel empowered to advocate for yourself through your experience.
There are also many resources on komen.org that can help you understand your diagnosis and treatment options. Some of them are listed below.
Read More:
Treatment by Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Types of Early Breast Cancer Treatment
Watch & Hear More:
Real Pink Podcast: The Difference Care Makes
Real Pink Podcast: How Biomarkers, Genetics, and Genomics Help Guide Breast Cancer Treatment
Real Pink Podcast: Advocating for your Health
More Actions You Can Take:
Contact Komen’s Patient Care Center for support at 1-877-465-6636 or email helpline@komen.org. The Komen Patient Care Center is your trusted, go-to source for timely, accurate breast health and breast cancer information, services and resources.
Join ShareForCures®, Komen’s Breast Cancer Research Registry that will answer some of the most pressing questions in breast cancer. Anyone diagnosed with breast cancer over age 18 in the U.S. is eligible to participate.
