Common treatment options for MBC include:
Hormonal therapy (Endocrine therapy)
Standard treatment for many people with HR-positive (HR+) breast cancer that blocks the effect of estrogen or progesterone on breast cancer cells and lowers the amount of estrogen or progesterone in the body, which can slow down the growth of the cancer.
Targeted therapy
A cancer treatment that targets specific genes and proteins that are involved in the growth and survival of cancer cells. These medicines work differently from traditional chemotherapy or hormonal therapy medications because they look for a specific feature of a cancer cell, attach to it, and destroy it. Targeted therapies aim to kill cancer cells while limiting harm to healthy cells.
Immunotherapy
Therapies that strengthen or change how the immune system works to better enable it to fight cancer. Immunotherapies act by helping your immune system find and attack cancer cells to slow the cancer’s growth or its spread to other areas of the body.
Combination therapy
Using two or more methods to treat cancer. There are a variety of medicines that can be used in combination therapy. Talk to your doctor about which treatment regimens may be right for you.
Radiation therapy
Treatment using high energy radiation to kill cancer cells. In patients with metastatic breast cancer, radiation therapy may be used to help relieve symptoms such as pain, or to improve breathing.
Chemotherapy
Treatments that kill cancer cells and some healthy cells. There are many chemotherapies available, so if the cancer worsens during or after treatment, or if treatment-related side effects are a problem, a different type of chemotherapy may be an option. Chemotherapy can be used as treatment across subtypes.
