Systemic Breast Cancer Treatment

Written by Aaron Lurie

A diagnosis requiring systemic breast cancer treatment is really scary, but with the variety of treatment options and a continued study of the disease, you still have a better chance of survival than the last generation. However, the treatment generally has to be much more aggressive and probably toxic in nature, which means you might actually feel worse, before you get better. The key is to keep in close communication with your health care team, so they can alter the cancer treatment or provide medication to help you through the process.

Ongoing Studies

Today, there are already ongoing studies in systemic breast cancer treatment. Unfortunately, even when new approaches in the fight against cancer are discovered, it takes between 4-10 years of clinical studies before the newest innovations are available for the general public.

The reason it takes so long is that sufficient data regarding the continued success of the treatment and the percentage of patients that remain cancer free or have a relapse must be studied. Fortunately, the breast cancer patients that agree to be subjects of study do not have to take the risks of the previous generation.

In the past, women agreed to be a part of one of two groups-ladies that actually got treatment for their cancer and those that did not. It was determined by the flip of a coin. Then, the survival rate of each group after a mastectomy was calculated.

Today, women agreeing to participate in clinical trials still get the accepted standard of treatment, or the newest treatment that has not been approved to-date. Both group get treatment for their cancer, and no one has to go without and feel like they have to sacrifice their life for the advancement of medicine.

The Harsh Reality

In truth, systemic treatment for breast cancer is a nasty business. Because the jury is still out on how different cancers spread once they leave local control, a doctor cannot predict what will happen with your cancer in the future-whether some undetected cells have escaped the boundaries of the breast. Since every woman is different, you doctor can only tell you about statistical information learned up to this point.

However, based on several factors, the doctor can give you an educated guess. For example, if you likely have less than a 10% chance of the cancer going any further than the breast, chances are you will not want to undergo chemotherapy, because the danger to your body is greater than the cancer at this point.

But, if you odds are 20-40% or higher, the doctor will probably suggest undergoing chemotherapy to kill any cancer cells that have likely strayed elsewhere in the body. Unfortunately, chemotherapy cannot differentiate between the good and bad cells, so healthy cells are sacrificed. Fortunately, healthy cells do not divide and multiple as quickly. So, they can sometimes repair themselves before the next onslaught of chemotherapy.

Aggressiveness

The aggressiveness of your systemic cancer treatment will depend on the type of breast cancer you have, how pervasive it is, and if it is traveled to other parts of your body like the lungs or bone. The doctor can run tests to tell if the current regime of cancer treatment is effective by measuring the size of the tumors at different points during the course of the treatment. If the tumors are shrinking, it also means that the cancer cells traveling in the blood are fewer in number.

To determine how well the cancer treatment is working, the doctor might order a C-T scan or a PET scan, to take very detailed pictures of your body. The test can look at every part of your body, layer by layer to see how the cancer cells are reacting to the aggressive cancer treatment.

However, these scans are very expensive and are quite extensive, so the doctor cannot order one any time you or he wants. It may even take some convincing to get the insurance company to agree that they are a necessary part of your treatment process. Plus, it takes time for the treatments to do their job and make a significant difference.

Half the Battle

So, even as sick as you might feel, it is important to try and be patient, eat as well as you can, and try to maintain healthy habits, so your body has the strength to fight off the cancer invasion. Fighting a cancer disease is difficult, but your attitude will be half of the battle. Patients with a positive attitude are more likely to realize a cure and live longer than those that give up to the monster within the body.

In conclusion, there is nothing fun about being told that you will need to undergo systemic breast cancer treatment. But, it does not mean that you cannot beat the cancer that has invaded your body. It simply means that more aggressive treatments will be necessary and that you will have to believe you can get well. Your positive attitude is half the battle in defeating this disease.