Medical Breast Cancer Treatment

Some types of breast cancer use hormones to grow and spread. If your breast cancer is hormone-sensitive or hormone-dependent, you may be treated with hormone therapy. Types of hormone therapy include:

• Drugs that prevent hormones from attaching to cancer cells. These medications include the long-used drug Tamoxifen.
• Drugs that stop hormone production. These include a class of drugs called aromatase inhibitors (AIs). They’re only used in women who have gone through menopause.
• Treatments to remove the ovaries or prevent them from working. Before menopause, your ovaries produce most of your estrogen and progesterone. Pre-menopausal women with breast cancer may have their ovaries surgically removed. Or they may receive injections to shut down their ovaries.

The type of hormone therapy you’ll need depends on the kind of breast cancer you have, your age and whether you’ve completed menopause. You may use one drug or a combination of drugs. For example, some women take Tamoxifen for several years then switch to an AI after menopause. Hormone therapy is often used before or after other breast cancer surgeries, such as lumpectomy or mastectomy.

Treating breast cancer with hormone therapy can help:

• Prevent cancer recurrence
• Keep cancer from growing and spreading
• Shrink a tumor before surgery
• Lower risk if you’re at high risk of developing breast cancer

Your Mercy care team will make sure you understand what to expect before, during and after hormone therapy. For example:

• You may need to take hormone therapy for 5-10 years.
• Common side effects include hot flashes, vaginal dryness, mood changes, weight gain and night sweats.

Like all medications, hormone therapy drugs have risks. Drugs like Tamoxifen may slightly increase your risk of blood clots or uterine cancer. 

Targeted therapy directs treatment to specific breast cancer cells, causing less damage to surrounding tissues. Targeted therapy identifies specific sites or processes (targets) that are important to the function of cancer cells. For example, drugs can target HER2 on breast cancer cells, a protein that helps them grow and spread.

Radiation therapy can also deliver targeted therapy to breast cancer tumors. The Mercy radiation oncology team uses a variety of techniques with different equipment to deliver targeted radiation therapy. The types of radiation therapy used for breast cancer include:

3D Conformal Radiation Therapy (3DCRT)

This technique makes three-dimensional (3D) images of cancer tumors and surrounding areas. Radiation beams are custom-shaped to treat tumors precisely.

Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)

IMRT is similar to 3DRT, but it varies the intensity levels of beams, allowing stronger doses to reach specific areas of cancer tumors.

Tomotherapy & Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT)

Tomotherapy and VMAT are delivered on machines that rotate around the body in an arc, targeting tumors from many directions. Built-in imaging systems provide precise tumor treatment. VMAT also offers shortened treatment times.

Brachytherapy

Brachytherapy, internal radiation therapy, is delivered internally through a catheter into the lumpectomy cavity.  

Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) & Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT)

SRS and SBRT are used when breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body, such as the brain, lung, liver or bone. They deliver high-dose radiation to extremely precise locations in up to five outpatient sessions. No surgical incisions are required.