Can it be concluded from this that they react differently to pharmacological therapies and also have different metastasis pathways?
“Exactly. According to the literature, it is usually the first type, the one with positive hormone receptors metastasizes to the bones first, then later to the liver and lungs, and it is less common to affect the brain. The HER2 virus can later metastasize to the brain and then to the lungs. and then to the remaining organs, while the triple negative metastasizes to the brain and then to the other organs. This does not rule out the possibility that a tumor with positive hormone receptors cannot get to the brain, but based on the processes studied, I assume that Doherty has one of the other two tumors, slightly faster and more aggressive. They also have to be included in the course of the disease Factors such as the patient’s age, heredity and medical history».
Let’s go back to the original question: Why does Doherty’s tumor appear to be getting worse instead of healing, even though he has received the best treatments and entered into regression at some point in his medical history?
“In most cases, metastatic breast cancer occurs treated to keep it under control, not to cure it. We are talking about Chronicity of the disease, meaning treatments are not interrupted to keep the cancer inactive. But that’s physiological At a certain point, the treatments that were once effective no longer work: It is normal because the cells become cancerous therapy resistant, then they start to grow again. The time period in which this can happen varies from person to person. But at this point, If the cancer begins to grow again, the therapy must be changed».
So we don’t heal ourselves, but rather strive to survive for as long as possible?
“Research is working hard to one day be able to say: “It can be cured.” But at the moment he has already made great progress: think about it Life expectancy until about ten years ago Median in a woman after receiving the diagnosis triple negative was 14 monthswhile those who had one HER2 or hormone receptor positive cancer could hope to live an average life another 2 years, 2 and a half years. Today is that period raised at 5-6 years old. We have more than doubled the survival rate with therapies that target it also guarantee an ever higher quality of life.
For example, new drugs such as conjugated antibodies, that is, antibodies bound to chemotherapy drug molecules that They are really very powerful: They delivered unprecedented results in all three types of breast cancer.
Chronizing means giving these women more time through treatment: Supporting research means giving science the opportunity to study the biology of tumors and develop new drugs that did not exist until recently. Time is important for patients, but also for us doctors.”
In the meantime, Carry out prevention: Continue with thatBreast self-examination And if you notice any suspicious “pebbles” in the chest or armpit area, contact your doctor immediately. And then, Adhere to screening programs and have regular mammograms: A simple control test can literally save your life.
Other Vanity Fair stories you might be interested in include:
Breast Cancer: Heredity and Prevention
Chest Pain: When the symptom deserves proper attention