Hitting the (breast cancer) Target
Lifesaving Treatment Advances Continue
When facing a challenge, we’re often encouraged to “give it all you’ve got.” This mindset has long been echoed in the medical field, especially in the fight against diseases like breast cancer. But today, advances in treatment are shifting that perspective. Rather than escalating care indiscriminately, we’re moving toward more targeted, personalized interventions. The result? Improved long-term outcomes and a better quality of life for patients.
Every May, we celebrate National Cancer Research Month and our progress in helping patients live with—and beyond—cancer. However, the hope clinical research offers patients extends far beyond a month. Ongoing studies continue to deepen our understanding of how cancer behaves, which treatments are most effective for different individuals, how long therapies should be administered and much more.
For breast cancer specifically, clinical trials have enabled us to harness molecular markers and genetic profiles to determine which patients will benefit from more—or less—aggressive treatments, based on the type and stage of their disease. Pre-operative therapy, guided by molecular profiling, may even eliminate the need for surgery in some cases.
Rather than relying solely on imaging or biopsies, a simple blood test can now flag genomic alterations specific to the patient’s cancer for earlier detection of recurrence and more timely intervention. Advances in monoclonal antibodies, engineered in the lab, have led to therapies that precisely target proteins on cancer cells and induce cancer cell death through the delivery of a lethal agent, called antibody drug conjugates or ADCs, or by triggering the immune system to attack specifically identified cancer cells. And with radiopharmaceuticals, an exciting new frontier, we’re gaining the ability to visualize tumors more clearly and deliver treatments with precision.
What is the goal of most clinical research trials? To develop more effective, less invasive and tailored treatments that improve patient outcomes while minimizing unwanted side effects. But we would be remiss not to acknowledge the vital role of early detection in this effort. As a colleague at The Breast Center at CARTI said, “We can’t treat the disease if we don’t find it.” The first step in saving lives from breast cancer is encouraging women to get their annual mammograms. With earlier detection, personalized treatment approaches and novel therapeutics, there is real hope for women with breast cancer to live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives.
Sam Makhoul, M.D., is the medical director of clinical research and a board-certified medical oncologist at CARTI, a not-for-profit, multidisciplinary cancer care provider.