Customized treatments can enhance breast cancer care

Not all breast cancers are the same, and tailoring treatments for different types is becoming increasingly common in cancer care. This approach has improved cure rates in some patients and allowed others to avoid unnecessary treatments.

At Providence Regional Cancer Center, we customize therapies in a variety of ways. Gene analysis is one technique, which may be used when it’s not clear if a patient’s particular form of breast cancer will benefit from chemotherapy.

The gene analysis test we use looks at 21 genes and gives us an idea of whether the patient has a low, intermediate or high likelihood of recurrence. Patients with a high recurrence score will typically benefit from chemotherapy, while people with an intermediate or low recurrence score will not gain additional benefit over the hormonal therapy they have already been prescribed.

For other breast cancer patients, including the 20 to 25 percent who have what’s known as HER2-positive cancer, “targeted” therapies have shown success. This type of breast cancer occurs when the HER2/neu gene mutates, which can result in cancer that is often less responsive to chemotherapy.

However, we now know that combining chemotherapy with Herceptin®, a drug that specifically targets a protein created by the HER2/neu gene, can improve treatment response and increase cure rates.

As cancer physicians, we are continuously looking for new ways to treat cancer, with the ultimate goal of curing it, or at least managing it as a chronic medical condition. In our practice at Providence Regional Cancer System, we have a special committee that reviews new treatments (for breast cancer as well as other cancers) which have recently been approved by the FDA.

This committee, called the Medication Management Team, includes doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other staff. The team evaluates new treatments and makes recommendations on how to implement them in the clinic as quickly and effectively as possible in order to help our patients.

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