The Use of Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Treatment

The Use of Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Treatment

Use of Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Treatment

Introduction

Breast cancer is a cancerous tumor that develops in breast cells. It ranks second among cancer related deaths in women globally; approximately 1 out of every eight women in America is affected by it. According to the American Cancer Society, there will be over 270000 instances of invasive breast cancer in the year 2021, while 42,000 women will die from the disease. Breast cancer therapy encompasses operations, radiation treatment, hormonal treatment, targeted treatment, and chemotherapy. More often, chemotherapy will be combined with other approaches to have the very best of possibilities for long term survival and remission.

Chemotherapy refers to employing chemicals or drugs to get rid of cancerous cells or prevent their multiplication. A common area to which it can be applied is breast cancer since it aims to kill off unhealthy cells that have dispersed to other parts of the body without affecting the normal cells. The methods by which chemotherapy drugs can be administered include intravenous, oral, and injections. The kind of chemotherapy drugs and the quantity will vary based on the type of breast cancer and its stage, in addition to the general health of the patient.

Use of Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Treatment
Credit: https://www.healthcentral.com/

Chemotherapy’s role in breast cancer treatment

Chemotherapy can play a vital role in breast cancer treatment by:

  1. Shrinking tumors before surgery: In some instances, chemotherapy is administered before surgery to reduce the tumor’s size. This can also assist in reducing the volume of the surrounding tissues that will have to be excised at operation to minimize side effects and adverse effects.
  2. Reducing the risk of cancer returning: In women with early-stage breast cancer, chemotherapy can also prevent cancer from coming back after surgery has been performed. This is also called adjuvant therapy and may involve a program of irradiation after surgery to destroy any residual cancerous cells.
  3. Treating advanced breast cancer: When breast cancer migrates to other organs, then it means that it has affected other body tissue, and the use of chemotherapy helps regulate the growth of the disease as well as ease the effects. It can also assist in increasing the patient’s quality of life and may even add some time to the patient’s life span.
  4. Combining with other treatments: chemotherapy may also be administered in conjunction with other cancer therapies, including radiation therapy and hormonal therapy, with the view of achieving the best shot at a long-term cure. For instance, chemoradiotherapy may be employed to make the body ready for radiation therapy or to prevent cancer from recurring after radiation treatment.
  5. Targeting specific types of breast cancer: Some chemotherapy drugs are specific for particular types of breast cancer, for instance, hormone-receptor-positive or HER2-positive cancers. It was found that with specific chemotherapy drugs, the rates of success can be increased for these particular types of cancer.
The Use of Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Treatment
Credit: https://www.medipulse.in/

Chemotherapy Medicines for Breast Cancer Treatment

Breast cancer can be treated with many chemotherapy drugs, mostly depending on the type and stage of the cancer and the condition of the patient. Some of the most common chemotherapy drugs used in breast cancer treatment include:

  1. Anthracyclines: Some chemotherapy drugs, including doxorubicin, epirubicin, and daunorubicin, are common recipes used in breast cancer. Some of these drugs act by arresting the proliferation of cancer cells and causing them to die.
  2. Taxanes: Paclitaxel or docetaxel are examples of drugs that are frequently administered in breast cancer conditions. These drugs affect the formation of the microtubules, which form a core part of the cancer cell division process.
  3. Platinum-based drugs: Other drugs, including cisplatin and carboplatin, are commonly used in breast cancer therapies. A doctor prescribes these drugs because they inhibit their ability to grow and divide because they destroy the DNA of the cancer cells.
  4. Antimetabolites: Regarding Appendix 1, some drugs used in breast cancer treatment are capecitabine and gemcitabine. These drugs act by inhibiting the function of the cell to copy a portion of DNA known as a ‘gene’.
  5. HER2-targeted drugs: trastuzumab, pertuzumab, and ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) are the drugs used in the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. They act on the HER2 protein on the tumor cell membranes that are in charge of the aggressive growth of the cancer cells.
  6. Hormone therapy drugs: Tamoxifen, aromatase inhibitors, and fulvestrant are drugs that help in treating hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer. When taken, they counteract the action of hormones, which promote abnormal cell division and the growth of cancer cells.
The Use of Chemotherapy in Breast Cancer Treatment
Credit: https://www.drjojojosephoncosurgeon.org/

Chemotherapy Side Effects and Complications

While chemotherapy can be an effective treatment for breast cancer, it can also cause a range of side effects and risks, including:

  1. Nausea and vomiting: Side effects of most chemotherapy medicines include nausea and vomiting, which may be serious.
  2. Hair loss: One effect or side of chemo entails hair loss; this may be either temporary or permanent depending on the taken chemo drugs and their portion.
  3. Fatigue: Some of the symptoms are fatigue during and after the chemotherapy, and this reduces their functional ability in society.
  4. Infection: Side effects of chemotherapy include compromising the immune system of the patient, making him or her more prone to infections.
  5. Increased risk of blood clots: Chemotherapy utilization poses some risks associated with the formation of blood clots with potential life-threatening consequences such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE).
  6. Cardiotoxicity: Some chemotherapy drugs, such as anthracyclines, have the potential to cause injury to the heart and blood vessels that can result in heart failure in the long run.

In conclusion, the role of chemotherapy in the treatment of breast cancer involves effective preoperative therapy, decreasing the risk of relapse, therapy of advanced breast cancer, adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy, and type of therapy according to the type of cancer. But like most treatments, it has side effects and risks involving such things as nausea and vomiting, alopecia, fatigue, infection, thromboembolism, and cardiotoxicity.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *