Learn more about 8 innovative breast cancer treatments that could have large impacts on the disease.

1. 8Breast Cancer Treatments on the Horizon

2. AccordingtotheJournaloftheNationalCancerInstitute,chemopreventionistheuseofpharmacologicornaturalagentsthatinhibitthedevelopmentofinvasivecancereitherbyblockingtheDNAdamagethatinitiatescancerformationorreversingtheprogressionofcellswherecancerhasalreadyformed.Drugsinthisarea,suchasFenretinide&aromataseinhibitors,arecurrentlybeingstudiedtoreducetheriskofbreastcancer.

3. Manywomenwithbreastcancerhavecellsthatmaybreakawayfromthetumorandenterthebloodstream.Thesecirculatingcellscannowbedetectedwithsensitivelabtesting.Thesetestscouldhelpdeterminewhichbreastcancerpatientsareatriskforremission.

4. Inscintimammography,ormolecularbreastimaging,aslightlyradioactivetracerisinjectedintothepatient’svein,andthetracerattachestobreastcancercells.Theroleofmolecularbreastimagingisstillbeingdetermined,butitmaybeusefulforfindingbreastcancersinthedensebreastsofyoungerwomen.

5. Forwomenatvariousstagesofbreastcancerwhoundergolumpectomyorpartialmastectomy,theprocedurecouldleadtobreastsofdifferentsizesandshapes;forwomenwithlargetumors,breastconservingsurgeriesmaynotevenbepossible.Surgeonsaresolvingtheseissueswithoncoplasticsurgery,inwhichtheyreshapethebreastatthetimeofinitialsurgeryandoperateontheotherbreasttomakethemmoresymmetrical.

6. PARPinhibitorstargetcancerscausedbyBRCAmutations,andtheyhavebeenfoundtobeeffectivewithtreatingbreast,ovarian,andprostatecancers.StudiesarenowbeingconductedtoseeifPARPinhibitorsarealsoeffectiveforcancersnotcausedbyBRCAmutations.

7. Anti-angiogenesis drugs
Bloodvesselshavetogrowinordertonourishandpromotecancercellgrowth.Thisgrowthofbloodvesselsiscalledangiogenesis.Anti-angiogenesisdrugspreventtheformationofnewbloodvessels.Anti-angiogenesisdrugsarestillbeingstudiedtodeterminethepotentialeffectivenessintreatingadvancedbreastcancer.

8. Bisphosphonates
Bisphosphonatescanhelpstrengthenbonesandreducebonefractureriskinbonesweakenedbymetastaticbreastcancer.Oneexampleiszoledronicacid,whichiscurrentlybeingstudiedforotherbenefitssuchasbreastcancerremission.

9. Vitamin D
VitaminDdeficiencymaybelinkedtoapoorerdiagnosisforearlystagebreastcancerpatients. Moreresearchisneededontheireffectiveness,buttakingvitaminDsupplementsmaybehelpful.ItwouldbeagoodideatoaskyourdoctorifyourvitaminDlevelisinthehealthyrange.

10. 1 in 8 women in the US will develop breast cancer in their lifetime, and for nearly 30% of them, the cancer will metastasize.
Today, an estimated 150,000 to 250,000 women and men are living with metastatic breast cancerin the US.
The average survival for a metastatic diagnosis is only 3 years.
Stats of Interest

11. Medko is dedicated to helping North Americans find alternative breast cancer treatment options in Latin America.
To learn more about our specialists’ treatment options, visit www.medkohealth.com