Breast Cancer Therapy: A Mini Review

Abstract

Breast cancer is a prevailing disease worldwide that requires effective and rational therapy. For this purpose the use of various treatment modalities should be optimized according to the stage of disease and the risk: benefit ratio of the therapeutic agents employed in the patients. Although the therapies involved provide reduction in morbidity and mortality rates, monitoring is required to combat the resulting adverse drug reactions. This review would be helpful for healthcare professionals to address the multi factorial disease in accordance with its occurrence thereby providing rationalized therapy to the patients. Keywords: Breast cancer; Chemotherapy; Endocrine therapy; Adjuvant therapy IntroductionBreast cancer has increased universally [1,2] and is considered as the second chief mortality cause in women. Among top five cancers in Americans, it is the third fatal cancer [3] while it is also the most prevalent cancer in Asians [4]. Since breast cancer is a very diverse ailment [5] it has several indicators [6] associated to typical features of tissues, therapeutic evaluation and reaction to therapy [7]. Improvements in the diagnosis and management of breast cancer have yielded drop in mortality frequency, but it varies widely between diverse geographic areas [8,9]. For early and locally advanced breast carcinoma, the intention of treatment is cure while for metastasis, it is improvement in clinical presentation of disease and quality of life. Various approaches are employed for breast cancer management like surgery, radiation treatment, endocrine treatment and chemotherapy [10]. The management of breast cancer is discussed as follows since the disease requires proper monitoring and optimized treatment schedules in the patients. The incidence and risk factors of breast cancer vary geographically; also patients respond to the provided treatment differently, therefore, rationalized therapy in individual cases according to the stage of the disease is essential. General treatment recommendations according to Breast cancer stagingThe staging of breast cancer is one of the most consistent prognostic signs that provide valuable confirmation about the current status of cancer identification and its therapy. The staging of breast cancer involves tumor size (T 1-4), association of lymph nodes (N 1-3) and existence of distant metastases (M 0-1).In stage 0, lumpectomy alone can be employed for Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (<0.5cm diameter) but for larger lesions, it is used with adjuvant radiation therapy. Extensive Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (i.e. involving two or more quadrants of the breast) requires mastectomy; adjuvant Tamoxifen therapy is considered in all patients [11].According to existing practice for Stage I and II, after considering axillary lymph node status, lumpectomy and radiation therapy are used in patients with stage I or II breast cancer; this has displayed equivalent effects for total mastectomy and for lumpectomy followed by radiation therapy with 5 and 8 year disease-free and overall survival ra...

Anti-cancer effect of gallic acid in presence of low level laser irradiation: ROS production and induction of apoptosis and ferroptosis

“…During radiation of 60 s with an energy level of 2 J/cm 2 , the cell viability was 73.3% (A375) and 82.9% (MDA-MB-231) and at a radiation of 90 s with radiation energy of 3 J/cm 2 , cell viability was 53% (A375) and 57% (MDA-MB-231). The cell viability decreased to 52% (A375) and 55% (MDA-MB-231) at 180 s of radiation with radiation energy of 6 J/cm 2 (Fig. 4).…”

“…Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women that accounts for 33% of all cancers in women worldwide. Treatment of breast cancer often requires a multifactorial approach and may be performed with local therapy (such as surgery and radiation), systemic therapy (such as chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and biologic or targeted treatments), or both [1,2]. Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease that is biologically diverse.…”

Tamoxifen: From Anti-cancer to Antifungal Drug

“…14 Thus, selecting effective treatment modalities should be optimized according to the stage of disease and the risk. 15…”

Combating breast cancer using combination therapy with 3 phytochemicals: Piperine, sulforaphane, and thymoquinone

“…2 Surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and endocrine treatment are the main approaches currently used in the management of breast cancer. 3 However, the high incidence of tumor recurrence and disease progression after these conventional therapies is of great concern and there is a need to develop new therapies. 4 Moreover, these conventional monotherapies nonselectively target actively proliferating cells, which ultimately leads to the destruction of both healthy and cancerous cells.…”