+852 2788 2128 | |
info@amo-oncology.com.hk | |
Room 1311-1312, 13/F, Ocean Center, Harbour City, 5 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui |
Room 1311-1312, 13/F, Ocean Center, Harbour City, 5 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui |
Radiotherapy
It kills residual cancer cells in the body by high-energy rays to reduce the chance of recurrence. This therapy is mostly used after a breast cancer surgery as it is not confined to body parts that the surgery is performed on. It is also not affected by the physical condition of the patients and can preserve the appearance and function of the breast. However, its side effects include skin redness and pain, nausea, fatigue, a breast texture that feels slightly harder, lymphedema, difficulty breathing and rib pain.
Chemotherapy
Anticancer drugs are used to kill tumors, but it also damages normal cells which have faster metabolism. First-generation chemotherapy (AC) effectively reduces the risk of recurrence of breast cancer, but may give rise to such side effects as heart failure and acute sepsis; second-generation chemotherapy (TC) can achieve the same effect without the above-mentioned side effects. The survival rate of the latter is 87%, while that of the former is 82%; the relapse-free rate of the latter is 87%, 12% higher than that of the former. Chemotherapy may also cause other side effects including fatigue, nausea, vomiting, mouth ulcers, hair loss and anemia.
Hormone therapy
The treatment approaches include: (1) directly reducing hormone production, such as surgical removal of ovaries; (2) blocking female hormone receptors using drugs; and (3) eliminating hormone receptors directly by drugs to reduce the number of hormone receptors.
Targeted therapy
Currently in Hong Kong, about 25% breast cancer patients are positive for HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2). New targeted therapy drugs can enter cancer cells to intercept the transmission paths of HER2 receptors, thereby inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells. If such HER2-positive cancer cells have begun to spread, by adopting this therapy, the control over the tumor can increase by about 50%, the chance of deterioration can fall by about 30%, and the patient may live 5-6 months longer.
Reference
- 蘋果日報, 乳你同行:荷爾蒙受體陽性的乳癌需要化療嗎? https://hk.news.appledaily.com/local/daily/article/20170224/19938448, 2017年2月24日
- 都市日報, 醫for Essential最新乳癌輔助化療 存活上升副作用少, http://www.metrodaily.hk/metro_news/醫for-essential最新乳癌輔助化療-存活上升副作用少/, 2016年10月27日
- 頭條日報, 藥問101——乳癌標靶藥, http://hd.stheadline.com/news/columns/615/20170623/578076/, 2017年6月23日
- 香港乳癌基金會, 新聞稿:口服標靶藥物針對性治療 HER2+乳癌, https://www.hkbcf.org/download/press/090606_pressRelease_Chi.pdf
- 歐陽賦, 乳癌的抗荷爾蒙治療——靠吃藥就可以讓乳癌消失的方法, http://www.kmuh.org.tw/www/kmcj/data/10112/12.htm
- 黃旼儀, 乳癌放射治療的原理與適應症, http://www.kmuh.org.tw/www/kmcj/data/10112/15.htm