Comprehensive Breast Cancer Therapy Options

If breast cancer is detected at an early stage, the chances of successful therapy for breast cancer are significantly higher. This is also reflected in the fact that although this type of cancer is the most common cancer in women, mortality rates are relatively low and have been steadily declining in recent years. This positive trend is due to advances in early detection and more targeted treatments in breast cancer therapy. In addition to the established conservative therapies, radiotherapeutic treatment options, and surgery, new approaches such as personalized therapy for breast cancer have been developed.

Personalized therapies aim to be more precisely tailored to the individual's cancer, reducing strain on the patient's body. New scientific papers are constantly being published, and clinical trials are regularly conducted in order to improve research in the field of personalized therapy and develop promising new approaches for breast cancer treatment. Find out which therapy options are currently used for HER2-negative and HER2-positive breast cancer and which new cancer treatment options for breast cancer are available.

The selected choice of breast cancer therapy administered by the physician for treating the tumor depends on various factors, which can also play a crucial role in determining the likelihood of reaching cancer remission. The following factors have an influence on breast cancer therapy:

Tumor stage: size and spread of the primary tumor, lymph node involvement and presence of metastases (secondary tumors, TNM classification).
Tumor histology: degree of differentiation, presence of growth factor receptors (HER2 receptors) and hormone receptors (estrogen receptors and progesterone receptors)
Tumor biology: molecular analysis of mutations and activation of breast cancer-related genes
Chances of complete removal of the tumor tissue (primary tumor)
Age of the patient
Physical condition: overall health and other illnesses (comorbidity) of the patient
Personal wishes of the patient
Previous occurrence of breast cancer, if applicable

Comprehensive Breast Cancer Diagnostics and Individual Treatment Planning

Doctors can detect cancer through manual palpation examination of the breast and the armpits, mammography (X-ray examination of the breast), sonography (ultrasound examination), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), and if necessary, a biopsy (tissue sample extraction for molecular diagnostics). Further diagnostic tests can be carried out if necessary to detect the cancer. These may include a CT scan (computed tomography), chest X-rays, or a biomarker test. Such a biomarker test can be conducted in the form of an oncological blood analysis, for instance, as part of the comprehensive cancer blood tests offered by RGCC.

Upon completion of the diagnostics, the clinician, together with the patient, determines which therapy methods should be applied for breast cancer treatment.

As with other types of cancer, national and international guidelines assist physicians in determining the most effective treatment for breast cancer. The most important recommendations are listed, for example, in the Treatment Guidlines for Breast Cancer compiled by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). They list guidelines for treatment options and for patients.

The recommendations are based on recent research, ongoing studies and approved clinical trials. They are consistently updated to reflect the latest advancements in the field of breast cancer.

When formulating the treatment plan and making decisions, patient preferences may be considered as long as they do not negatively impact the success of the treatment or the patient's health, particularly in cases of HER2-positive breast cancer. The treating physicians adapt every breast cancer therapy to each patient's individual disease situation and needs.

Depending on the factors mentioned above, as well as the aforementioned recommendations, the treatment option plan is usually composed based on the following established therapy options:

Surgery

Surgery is a local therapy. Usually, localized breast cancer tumors are surgically removed. In most cases, the operation is followed by radiotherapy to ensure the success of the treatment. Whether breast-conserving surgery or a mastectomy (complete removal of the breast) is performed depends on the tumor size and its characteristics. During surgery, the tumor is completely removed while preserving as much healthy tissue as possible. If a lot of tissue or the entire mammary gland has to be removed, the breast can be reconstructed in either the same or a subsequent operation—by using the patient's own tissue or silicone.

Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy is another locally applied therapy. Usually, it is carried out following surgery to minimize the risk of recurrence. In collaboration with consultant radiotherapists or radiologists and other specialists, doctors determine the appropriate radiation dose, the size of the radiation field and the direction of the radiation. This aims to provide the best possible protection for healthy organs, increase tolerance while simultaneously ensuring the precise destruction of any undetectable tumor cells that may still be present. Radiotherapy is also used to treat breast cancer independently of surgery.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy is mainly a systemic treatment, but not exclusively: While it is mostly used to destroy tumors, it can also be utilized against metastatic breast cancer cells that affect the entire body.

In short: It aims to destroy individual disseminated tumor cells as well as metastases. In certain cases, chemotherapy reduces the risk of a cancer recurrence, shrinks tumors or slows tumor growth in advanced stages.

The most common side effects include hair loss and disorders of blood formation and the immune system.

Breast Cancer Therapy with Hormones

Hormone or anti-hormone therapy is a systemic treatment that stops the growth of hormone-sensitive tumors. This treatment aims to prevent cancer progression and/or recurrence. There are two treatment options for anti-hormone therapy. Either estrogen (and/or progesterone) receptors are blocked, which inhibits the effect of the hormones in the body or estrogen (and/or progesterone) production in the body is suppressed resulting in less sex hormones being produced. If breast cancer grows in a hormone-dependent manner, hormone treatment after local therapy and possibly chemotherapy aim to destroy any remaining undetectable tumor cells.

Targeted Therapy

Targeted therapies are not supposed to affect the patient's entire body, but instead aim to attack specific proteins that are overexpressed on the surface of tumor cells. These surface proteins are critical for the growth of cancer cells. Antibodies and so-called small molecules are produced in the lab, specifically for each individual tumor. Doctors aim to inhibit tumor growth through those monoclonal antibodies or molecules. Antibody therapy and molecular therapy include, for instance, HER2 antibody therapy, cancer immunotherapy or angiogenesis therapy. Healthy cells are largely spared. Consequently, this type of breast cancer therapy only has an effect on tumor cells containing certain surface proteins. Ongoing and intensified research and clinical trials are exploring therapies that utilize targeted active substances. They do not replace other methods of treating breast cancer, but complement them.

In addition to conventional types of therapy for breast cancer, there are complementary or alternative medical approaches which can be used alongside the aforementioned treatment options for breast cancers. Prior to starting any treatments, patients should always inform their doctor in order to design the best possible individual care and treatment plan. This is important for ensuring that patient preferences are considered without negatively affecting treatment success or the patient's health, especially in cases of HER2-positive and metastatic breast cancer.

For breast cancer, the most relevant new form of treatment is personalized cancer therapy. Personalized medicine is intended to adapt breast cancer treatment to the individual needs of patients. They aim to achieve maximum treatment success with the lowest possible negative impact on the patient's body and psyche. The fact that not all patients and tumors respond equally to a particular form of treatment is widely recognized. This is not only due to the diverse nature of cancer cells, but genetic and individual factors also lead to different causes of the disease. Furthermore, each patient's body processes medications differently.

Personalized therapy for breast cancer works in a similar way to the previously described targeted therapy. Numerous characteristics and properties of tumor cells have been well researched and tested in clinical trials, particularly for HER2-negative and positive breast cancers — as well as colon cancer and lung cancer. These can be identified through specialized blood tests, enabling a targeted approach using personalized medicine. In contrast to chemotherapy, which acts nonspecifically against all fast-growing cells in the body, new targeted treatment for breast cancer damages significantly fewer healthy cells. Thus, patients receive an alternative breast cancer treatment that is tailored to their specific cancer — reducing the number of ineffective therapies.

Blocking Signal Transmission, Limiting Growth, Activating the Immune System

Personalized therapies usually follow one of these three approaches:

Blocking signals and signaling pathways: Antibody-based agents bind to specific proteins on the cancer cell surface. There, they prevent the reception of growth and proliferation signals. They can directly inflict damage to the cells by binding to cytotoxins, thus disrupting key protein pathways essential for cancer cell survival and proliferation.
Suppression of internal signal chains: So-called “small molecules” penetrate cells and suppress internal signal chains which control growth and cell division. As a result, the tumor cells die.
Inhibition of angiogenesis and stimulation of immune cells: Angiogenesis inhibitors disrupt the formation of new blood vessels, thus reducing the oxygen and nutrient supply to cancer cells. Some agents also bind to tumor cells, rendering them “visible” to the immune system and enabling targeted destruction by immune cells.

Generally Suitable Personalized Cancer Therapies for Breast Cancer

RGCC International is an international laboratory network with a team of researchers from various disciplines. Our experts combine pioneering research from clinical trials with advanced technology to develop new targeted treatment for breast cancer. Through these efforts, we aim to continuously improve outcomes for patients.

The following RGCC targeted cancer therapies are generally suitable for the therapy of breast cancer. Whether and which of the methods can be used in an individual case requires a cancer test in combination with further diagnostics by specialized physicians.

Q-REstrain

Q-REstrain consists of microRNA molecules with the ability to regulate the gene expression of a specific target. The short dsRNAs (double-stranded RNAs) are derived by cleavage of long dsRNA from Dicer and can be microRNAs (miRNAs). miRNAs then assemble with RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) and cause gene silencing. RNAi has been used in the therapy of different diseases including cancer, viral infections, respiratory diseases, etc. Targeting of specific proteins, through degradation of their mRNA, is very common in cancer treatment of different types of cancer or other infections. Q-REstrain contains microRNAs isolated by the patient’s sample, leading to the degradation of specific mRNA molecules, which are overexpressed in this specific sample, thus regulating the expression. Q-REstrain is for autologous use only and is provided through the RGCC network.

Clavic-Q-RE

Clavic-Q-RE is an adoptive cell therapy aiming to generate a robust anti-tumor immune response. Clavi-Q-RE contains different cell populations, isolated by the patient’s sample.

They include monocytes, natural killer cells, as well as dendritic cells that are already activated in vivo against tumor antigens, which are expressed on cancer samples, cytotoxic T lymphocytes, and plasma cells that have been already differentiated in vivo against tumor antigens.

Clavic-Q-RE is for autologous use only and is provided through the RGCC network.

Vaccine Prep (ATA)

Vaccine Prep (ATA) is a new type of immunotherapy that activates or strengthens specific immune cells. The body's own cells are specifically designed to recognize and destroy cancer cells. We use the cellular fragments of dying tumor cells (CTCs). These include organelles, mitochondria, cell membranes and cellular RNA and DNA. In our laboratory, we stimulate the development of dendritic cells and thus promote tumor antigen therapy.

Dentric Cell Therapy

The aim of dendritic cell therapy is to activate or strengthen the immune system. In immunotherapy, specific immune cells are used to target cancer cells. The therapy method uses so-called dendritic cells, which can recognize specific antigens on the surface of cancer cells. Thanks to improved tumor defense and a reduction in systemic side effects, the therapy is considered a promising treatment approach.

In order to initiate a targeted personalized therapy for breast cancer, a cancer blood test must be conducted. This is due to the unique nature of each cancer and the varying conditions each patient brings into the treatment. The aim of RGCC blood tests is the early detection, analysis, and examination of cancer cells at every stage of the disease. Based on the test results and other diagnostic procedures, doctors can determine the best breast carcinoma treatment for their patients.

The following RGCC tests can be used to diagnose breast cancer, detect specific biomarkers and personalize breast cancer treatment:

Onco-D-clare

Onco-D-Clare is an early cancer detection test based on the synergy of molecular biology and artificial neural networks.

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Onconomics

RGCC provides highly detailed and accurate information about how effective specific anti-cancer drugs and targeted therapies are in…

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Onconomics Plus

RGCC provides information about the effect of specific anti-cancer drugs, targeted therapies and natural treatments on the…

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Onconomics Extracts

is a unique and highly detailed test that provides information on how effective natural substances and plant…

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Onconomics Extracts +

Onconomics Extracts+ provides highly detailed and accurate information about how effective specific natural substances and plant extracts are. Furthermore,…

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Oncocount

RGCC detects the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and their concentration in the blood. CTCs are a…

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Oncotrace

RGCC detects the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), their concentration on the blood, as well as their…

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Oncotrail RGCC

provides crucial information on the presence of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and their concentration in patients who…

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ArrayCGH RGCC

The array comparative genomic hybridisation (aCGH) RGCC test is used to identify chromosomal abnormalities in a patient that could…

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ChemoSNiP

is an inovative test that uses molecular biology techniques to analyze how patient's body will respond (metabolize) to…

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RGCC CAMBISeq®

(Cancer Analysis, Mutational Burden and Instability Sequencing) is an innovative test that uses next-generation sequencing analysis on…

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Metastat

RGCC is an advanced test to detect specific blood-borne markers that can accurately determine whether a secondary cancerous…

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Immune-Frame

is used to assess the condition of a patient’s immune system. Scientists use the test to identify specific…

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InVyomma Plus

focuses on gut microbiome profiling, including analysis of short-chain fatty acids, and how they are associated with…

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The current options in breast cancer treatment are many and varied, and the chances of recovery are high if detected early. Through detailed study, research and clinical trials, new cancer treatments for breast cancer are being developed and tested, which can treat cancer even more effectively. Scientists at RGCC International work every day to address unmet medical needs and contribute to more targeted cancer therapy.

Are you considering a blood test for early cancer diagnosis, disease analysis or therapy monitoring? Get in touch with us! Our highly advanced cancer therapies are accessible exclusively to clinicians within our RGCC network. Beyond breast cancer treatment, our test and therapy procedures may be applied to other types of cancer such as colorectal cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer and more. Do you have further questions? Don't hesitate to contact our specialized team at our help desk. We're here to assist you.