What are anti-cancer treatments? Anti-cancer treatment usually involves “systemic” treatment that treats the whole body, such as hormone-blocking therapy or chemotherapy. This is given for as long as it remains effective against the cancer and does not cause excessive side effects. If the cancer is growing or spreads elsewhere, it means that the current treatment is not working effectively and you may be offered a different type of treatment. At any time, you can talk to your treating team about having a break, stopping or changing treatment, if you feel that the current treatment is not suitable. • Hormone-blocking (anti-oestrogen) treatments • CDK4/6 cell cycle inhibitors (e.g. abemaciclib, ribociclib, palbociclib) • Chemotherapy • Targeted treatments (e.g. trastuzumab, pertuzumab, T-DM1, lapatinib) • Immunotherapy • Radiotherapy • Clinical trials of new treatments, or of new ways of using current treatments • Surgery is not usually suggested, apart from specific circumstances where it may prevent or reduce symptoms. What is supportive care? The goal of supportive care in metastatic breast cancer is to prevent or treat symptoms as early as possible. Supportive care may include: • bone-strengthening treatments (denosumab, zoledronic acid) • symptom management medications (e.g. pain killers, anti-nausea medications).
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Metastatic breast cancer: an introduction
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