Breast Cancer Hormone Treatment

Breast Cancer Hormone Treatment Provides Some Of The Newest Treatments

Breast cancer hormone treatment involves giving certain hormones to fight breast cancer. A breast cancer tumor cell has hormone receptors on it. The hormone receptors can be estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors or both.

We are going to give you some pretty complicated science terms, but think of them just as complicated names for things that really have shortened names.

Estrogen receptor positive breast cancer tumors bind to female estrogen and are called ER positive.

Progesterone receptor positive breast cancer tumors bind to the female hormone, progesterone, and are called PR positive.

There are also HER1 and HER2 receptors on a breast cancer tumor. This is important because there are medicines that block HER receptors as well as estrogen and progesterone receptors.

Some of the breast cancer clinical trials show improvement in breast cancer with receptor modulators

There have been a lot of breast cancer clinical trials that focus on surviving breast cancer treatment with and without hormone receptor modulators. Most research on breast cancer treatment has been on estrogen receptors because many breast cancer tumor cells have estrogen receptors on them.

This means that estrogen sticks to a protein on the cell. The protein then triggers the growth of breast cancer cells.

They decided on Tamoxifen and Raloxifene—both medicines that stick to breast cancer receptors but don’t turn the receptors on. They block estrogen from stimulating the breast cancer cell.

Many women with breast cancer take Raloxifene or Tamoxifen after having breast cancer surgery. Even if there are breast cancer cells left after surgery or chemotherapy, they don’t grow. This allows the woman to live longer after surgery, even survive the whole of her life.

Doctors check breast cancer biopsies to see if they are estrogen receptor positive. If they are positive, this is a good sign. It means that the woman can take Raloxifene or Tamoxifen for their breast cancer. People with cancers that are not estrogen receptor positive do not do as well as people with receptor positive cancer cells.

There is a medication called Megace used to block the progesterone receptor in cancer cells. Some breast cancer tumor cells are defeated in this way. Progesterone receptor breast cancer tumor cells can be treated with a different breast cancer hormone treatment than those who are estrogen receptor positive.

Doctors can check to see if the cancer cells are progesterone receptor positive. This is done during breast cancer surgery or after a biopsy.

Some women have positive receptors for both estrogen and progesterone. These women can take both Tamoxifen or Raloxifene and Megace. Breast cancer clinical trials have shown that women who take these medications live longer than women who do not take these medications.

Alternative Breast Cancer Treatment and Hormone Receptors

Because women with breast cancer can have receptor positive cells, they can’t take plant estrogens. Plant estrogens come from soy products, black cohosh, blue cohosh and other plants. Some researchers believe that plant estrogens make breast cancer worse.

Other breast cancer clinical trials say that plant estrogens are different from those that cause breast cancer. Plants containing lignans, a type of estrogen, have been found to reduce the risk of breast cancer. These might be used in the treatment of breast cancer. Research studies are being done to see if this is the case.

You should speak to your doctor if you are thinking of using alternative breast cancer treatment for your breast cancer.

If You Decide to Take Tamoxifen or Raloxifene

Your doctor will tell you if you can take these medications. She will know because of the biopsy results showing estrogen positive cells. You will start taking the medications and once to twice a day.

Some women get vaginal dryness when they take these medicines. Other women get hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause when they take the medicines. Most of the time, the symptoms are worth it because the medicines will make your life better. You can prevent growth of breast cancer tumor cells with this kind of breast cancer hormone treatment.

If You Decide to Take Megace

Fewer women take Megace for the treatment of breast cancer. There aren’t as many side effects with Megace, but there are still some side effects:

• You can have a change in your appetite, constipation or diarrhea.
• Your ankles can swell.
• You can have frequent urination.
• Some women have a hard time breathing or have hair loss.

But these can be minor side effects and they don’t often last long. Women can take Megace for many years without problems.

Herceptin is another medication that acts on hormone receptors. The HER1 and HER 2 receptors are found on some breast cancers. If these are found on the breast cancer tumor cells, the woman can take Herceptin and can have a better cancer outlook.

Dr. Christine Traxler
2 04 2010