Treatment Options Available
- Early stage disease means that the cancer has not spread beyond the breast or the lymph nodes under your arm
- Hormonal therapy and therapies targeted to HER2 are not options for triple-negative breast cancer
- In addition to surgery and radiation, chemotherapy is a mainstay of treatment for early stage triple-negative breast cancer
- Different chemotherapy combinations may be used
If you are diagnosed with breast cancer you may hear the term “triple-negative,” that’s a term used for breast cancers that do not have receptors for estrogen or progesterone or for a protein called HER2. What this means is that hormonal therapy can’t be used because the cancer cells lack these receptors, and it also means that therapies targeted at HER2 will not be an effective treatment option.
“If you have early stage disease, that means that the cancer has not spread beyond your breast or potentially beyond the lymph nodes in your armpit,” says Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. “The mainstay of therapy is chemotherapy, but there are many different regimens that are used.”
Combination Therapy Is Common
Different chemotherapy drugs are used to treat triple-negative breast cancer and they are often used in combination with one another. “Patients may see names like ACT, TC or CMF, but those just stand for the regimens that we use,” says Dr. Comen.
For example, a CMF regimen is an abbreviation for the combination of chemotherapy drugs cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil. AC stands for doxorubicin (Adriamycin) with cyclophosphamide, and ACT just indicates that a taxane drug is added to the regimen. Likewise, TC is an abbreviation for a regimen consisting of Taxotere and cyclophosphamide.
Be sure to talk to your doctor, assess where you are in your diagnosis, and work through what the best options are for you.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
Dr. Elizabeth Comen serves as a medical advisor to SurvivorNet. She is a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Read More
Treatment Options Available
- Early stage disease means that the cancer has not spread beyond the breast or the lymph nodes under your arm
- Hormonal therapy and therapies targeted to HER2 are not options for triple-negative breast cancer
- In addition to surgery and radiation, chemotherapy is a mainstay of treatment for early stage triple-negative breast cancer
- Different chemotherapy combinations may be used
If you are diagnosed with breast cancer you may hear the term “triple-negative,” that’s a term used for breast cancers that do not have receptors for estrogen or progesterone or for a protein called HER2. What this means is that hormonal therapy can’t be used because the cancer cells lack these receptors, and it also means that therapies targeted at HER2 will not be an effective treatment option.
“If you have early stage disease, that means that the cancer has not spread beyond your breast or potentially beyond the lymph nodes in your armpit,” says Dr. Elizabeth Comen, a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. “The mainstay of therapy is chemotherapy, but there are many different regimens that are used.”
Combination Therapy Is Common
Read More Different chemotherapy drugs are used to treat triple-negative breast cancer and they are often used in combination with one another. “Patients may see names like ACT, TC or CMF, but those just stand for the regimens that we use,” says Dr. Comen.
For example, a CMF regimen is an abbreviation for the combination of chemotherapy drugs cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil. AC stands for doxorubicin (Adriamycin) with cyclophosphamide, and ACT just indicates that a taxane drug is added to the regimen. Likewise, TC is an abbreviation for a regimen consisting of Taxotere and cyclophosphamide.
Be sure to talk to your doctor, assess where you are in your diagnosis, and work through what the best options are for you.
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
Dr. Elizabeth Comen serves as a medical advisor to SurvivorNet. She is a medical oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Read More
