Five Breast Cancer Improvements

This may be hard to believe, but 20-30 years ago treatments for breast cancer were very different than they are today. As a result, even though the diagnosis of breast cancer continues to increase with nearly 1 in 7 women having it in their lifetime, death rates have gone down. As doctors and researchers learn more in time, the prognosis for breast cancer patients has gotten much better. So let’s look at these five breast cancer improvements over the past 30 years.

Chemo is now given to those who need it. In the earlier days, almost every breast cancer patient received chemo—just in case. Today, chemotherapy is generally given to those in stages 1 and 2 who have aggressive, triple negative, or inflammatory breast cancer. If you have estrogen-fed early stages, no chemo is given unless the Oncotype DX Test shows you with a higher rate of recurrence. This gene profile test reveals which genes are active in a tumor. It helps oncologists to determine which patients with earlier stages of breast cancer can be treated with hormone blockers alone, and those who need additional chemotherapy. Generally, those with stage 3 (in the lymph nodes) and stage 4 (metastasized to other organs) almost always have chemotherapy recommended. And this may shock you the most—just recently, some oncologists are not recommending chemotherapy for those patients who have 1-2 nodes positive (which were removed) who score below the threshold on the Oncotype Test. Yes, some stage 3 breast cancer patients are not having chemotherapy recommended by their oncologists! We’ve come a long way baby to get to this today!

Not all lymph nodes under the arm are taken. In the earlier days, most surgeons took all the lymph nodes under the arm on the side of the breast cancer. This left many debilitated with lymphedema and difficulty moving their arm for life. Today, oncologists and surgeons know that the sentinel lymph node (SLN) is the first lymph node that cancer cells from a breast tumor are likely to spread to. So the surgeon performs a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) which involves identifying, removing, and testing the sentinel lymph node to determine if cancer cells are present.

Here’s how a SLNB works:

A tracer substance, such as a radioactive substance, blue dye, or liquid containing coated iron oxide particles, is injected into the tumor, the area around it, or the nipple area. During surgery, the surgeon removes the sentinel lymph node and any other nearby lymph nodes that have picked up the tracer. Then a pathologist examines the removed lymph nodes under a microscope. If the sentinel lymph node is free of cancer, it’s unlikely that the cancer has spread, and further lymph node removal may not be necessary. If cancer is found in the sentinel node, more lymph nodes may need to be removed for testing. This is much less invasive than an axillary lymph node dissection formerly used.

Less radical surgeries for breast cancer patients. There was a day when most women received a mastectomy if any cancer was in the breast. Mastectomies years ago removed everything including the nipple which made reconstruction so many surgeries that many patients gave up. Most mastectomies today are nipple-sparing and not as radical (unless a surgeon feels a more radical surgery is needed.) In 1985, Researchers discovered that women with early-stage breast cancer who were treated with a lumpectomy and radiation have similar survival rates to women treated with only a mastectomy. This discovery allowed many breast cancer patients to opt for a lumpectomy as opposed to a mastectomy. In a lumpectomy, the entire tumor and surrounding tissues are removed. Then a pathologist tests all the tissue to see if all margins have been cleared. Although, radiation is usually recommended for all patients who choose the lumpectomy, some oncologists and surgeons are foregoing the radiation if the patient has a tumor less than 1-2 centimeters.

More specialized treatments for different types of breast cancers. Research has paved the way for this. In years past, most breast cancer patients were treated with the same treatments and chemicals. Today, a biopsy gives much-needed information to the oncologist as to the drivers of the cancer. Is it estrogen-fed? Is it aggressive or Her-2 positive? Is it triple negative? Is it inflammatory?

For those patients who call me who don’t want the biopsy, I’ve been known to say, “You don’t know what you’re fighting and how to fight it without this valuable information.” If you have aggressive cancer and you are trying to beat it naturally, you stand a chance that your cancer may spread to your lymph nodes while you are earnestly trying to beat it.

In 1978, the FDA approved Tamoxifen as the first selective estrogen receptor modulator or SERM for those patients with estrogen-fed breast cancers. In 1996, the first aromatase inhibitor, anastrozole (Arimidex) was approved by the FDA to also treat postmenopausal breast cancer patients with estrogen-fed cancers. In 1998, Tamoxifen was found to decrease breast cancer recurrence by 50 percent.

But this is the year that matters most to me. In 1998, the FDA approved Trastuzumab or Herceptin as a monoclonal antibody that targets cancer cells that overexpress the HER2 gene, for women diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer—of which I am one. Hear me clearly, before the invention of this drug, HER2 positive breast cancers were generally incurable. And I’m thankful some doctor invented it. It literally stopped the aggressive nature of my cancer with minimal side effects. Recently in 2020, The drug Trodelvy was approved by the FDA for treating metastatic triple-negative breast cancer which was formerly difficult to treat.

In 2017, the FDA approved Verzenio for advanced or metastatic breast cancers. And here’s why this is significant. It is a check-point inhibitor that is now allowing some women with stage 4 estrogen-fed breast cancer to forego chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation in some cases in exchange for this pill and a hormone blocker therapy! I know several patients getting great results with this! One of these patients is also changing her lifestyle and continues to get clean scans.

Yes, breast cancer treatments are becoming more specialized as doctors learn more from research about it.

Breast cancer is being detected at earlier stages. Early detection is your main defense in fighting and preventing cancer. In 1995, scientists cloned the tumor suppressor genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2 allowing them to predict which people have an increased risk of breast cancer. Using infrared photography can also show changes in the breast several years earlier than a mammogram. This technology is called a thermogram. For me, although paid out of pocket, gives me added assurance that if my cancer returns, this technology will help me catch it early—especially since mammograms are not very reliable for me. Dr. Jennifer Simmons has recently developed the PerfectQTion Imaging which is only available in Philadelphia. This new cutting-edge technology uses sound waves to create a 3D reconstruction of the breast. This revolutionary approach offers pain-free, radiation-free imaging with unparalleled accuracy and 40x the resolution of an MRI. It is also FDA-approved, but not currently covered by insurance.

As a result of these five advancements, death rates have dropped significantly. And who knows what advancements will be made in the future! And just imagine the benefits from implementing lifestyle changes.

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Five Breast Cancer Improvements

For Your Health,

Ginny

Ginny Dent Brant is a speaker and writer who grew up in the halls of power in Washington, DC. She has battled cancer, ministered around the world, and served on the front lines of American culture as a counselor, educator, wellness advocate, and adjunct professor. Brant’s award-winning book, Finding True Freedom: From the White House to the World, was endorsed by Chuck Colson and featured in many TV and media interviews. Unleash Your God-Given Healing: Eight Steps to Prevent and Survive Cancer was released in May 2020 after her journey with cancer and was recently awarded the First Place Golden Scrolls Award for Memoirs, a finalist in Serious Writers Book of the Decade, and Second Place in both Selah Awards for Memoirs and Director’s Choice Award for Nonfiction at the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer’s Conference. It recently received the Christian Authors Network’s (CAN) Gold Award for Excellence in Marketing for reaching 62.5 million people with a message of cancer prevention and survival. It was written with commentary from an oncologist and was featured on CBN’s Healthy Living Show, Atlanta Live, and CTN’s Homekeepers along with over 75 media outlets. Learn more and cancer and wellness prevention blog and book information at www.ginnybrant.com. Ginny is on YouTube