Wherever you are in your fight against advanced breast cancer, it is important
to understand the disease. The following information provides you with answers
to some frequently asked questions about advanced breast cancer and its
treatment.
Answers to frequently asked questions about advanced breast cancer treatment and ARIMIDEX
What is advanced breast cancer?
Breast cancer is considered advanced when it has spread from its original site
to distant areas of the body. Physicians will look at a number of factors to
determine the
stage
of breast cancer, including
tumor
size,
lymph node
involvement, and whether the cancer has spread to
other areas of the body. Once the stage of the disease is determined, there are
two different ways advanced breast cancer can be classified: locally advanced
or
metastatic.
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What is locally advanced breast cancer?
The term locally advanced breast cancer indicates that the cancer is large (greater than 2 inches) or may have spread to other nearby tissue, such as the muscle underneath the breast or the skin on top of the breast.
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What is metastatic breast cancer?
The term metastatic breast cancer indicates that the cancer has spread from the
breast to other parts of the body, such as bone, lung, liver, or brain.
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What therapies are available for locally advanced or
metastatic breast cancer?
-
Hormonal treatment
can be used to slow the growth, spread, and
recurrence
of breast cancer. If the cancer is found to be of the type that may be
sensitive to estrogen, hormonal treatment may be able to keep estrogen from
helping the cancer cells to grow and divide. The presence of estrogen receptors
(message-carrying proteins that may stimulate tumor growth) in the cancerous
tumor is the best way to predict a woman's response to hormonal treatment
There are several hormonal treatment options available for
postmenopausal
women with metastatic breast cancer. Hormonal treatments are currently
available in pill form or as a monthly intramuscular injection into the
buttock. Ask your physician about these therapies.
-
Chemotherapy
may be used if it is believed the breast cancer will not respond to hormonal
treatment. Chemotherapy is the use of drugs that target and destroy rapidly
dividing cells, including cancer cells. It is frequently used in metastatic
breast cancer and used in locally advanced breast cancer to shrink the tumor
and make it potentially operable
-
Novel targeted therapy
is a term that covers a range of new options that are to be added to the family
of cancer treatments. These therapies target specific features of cancer cells
to fight cancer. Since these therapies are specific, they are intended to have
less effect on normal cells, which may reduce the chance of possible side
effects, like those caused by current cancer treatments. Types of treatment
include monoclonal antibodies, which bind to proteins on the cancer cell
surface to slow down cancer cell growth; angiogenesis inhibitors, which are
intended to prevent the growth of new blood vessels and so cut off the supply
of oxygen and nutrients to cancer cells; and signal transduction inhibitors,
which block the signals inside the cancer cell that prompt the cells to divide
and, in turn, cause the cancer to grow.
-
Radiation therapy
uses penetrating beams of high-energy waves or streams of particles to kill and
hinder the growth of cancer cells. In metastatic disease, radiation is often
used to shrink cancer that has spread to the bone
-
Surgery
may be performed to remove breast cancer that is locally advanced or to obtain tissue for more accurate diagnosis. Surgery is generally not an option in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer.
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Does ARIMIDEX work as well as tamoxifen for the
initial treatment of locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer?
Scientists did studies to find out if ARIMIDEX fights breast cancer as well as
tamoxifen does. Tamoxifen has been the most widely used hormonal breast cancer
treatment for over 20 years. Here is what the scientists found out:
-
ARIMIDEX does fight breast cancer as well as tamoxifen
-
ARIMIDEX is generally well tolerated
For these reasons, you and your doctor may decide that ARIMIDEX is right for
you. If you no longer get your period, you can take ARIMIDEX even if you have
not been treated with any other cancer medicine.
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