How Breast Cancer Research Is Changing Treatment for Patients Today

For people diagnosed with breast cancer, advances in research are helping doctors better understand the disease and tailor treatment to each patient. According to Dr. Zunairah Shah, a breast oncologist at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, those advances are already translating into longer survival and more treatment options.

How Has Breast Cancer Research Improved Treatment?

One of the biggest ways research has benefited patients is by improving how breast cancer is treated.

For example, outcomes for people with HER2-positive breast cancer have improved significantly over the years. Treatments that once offered patients only a few years of survival can now help some people live much longer.

“We have better treatment options,” Shah said. “We know who to give chemotherapy, who not to give chemotherapy.”

This more personalized approach can help doctors determine which patients are most likely to benefit from certain treatments while helping others avoid treatments they may not need.

What Should Breast Cancer Patients Ask Before Starting Treatment?

Before beginning breast cancer treatment, Shah encourages patients to ask an important question: Has all appropriate biomarker testing been completed, and is my treatment based on those results?

Biomarkers are characteristics found in a tumor that can help doctors understand how a cancer may behave and which treatments may be most effective.

Because breast cancer is not one single disease, understanding the specific characteristics of a person's tumor can help guide treatment decisions.

Shah recommends that patients talk with their care team about whether the appropriate testing has been performed and whether the results indicate a biomarker-directed treatment option.

What Are Antibody-Drug Conjugates and How Do They Treat Breast Cancer?

Another major advancement Shah highlighted is the development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).

These treatments combine an antibody that can recognize a particular target on cancer cells with a cancer-killing drug. The goal is to deliver the treatment more directly to cancer cells while limiting exposure to healthy tissue.

Shah compared them to “small chemotherapy bombs” that deliver therapy to cancer cells.

Examples include sacituzumab govitecan and trastuzumab deruxtecan, which are used to treat certain types and stages of breast cancer.

These therapies represent an important shift in cancer treatment, giving doctors additional ways to target breast cancer while continuing to explore how these drugs can be used most effectively.

How Can You Tell if Breast Cancer Treatment Is Working?

For patients, one of the most important questions during treatment is whether the therapy is actually working.

The answer can depend on the type and stage of breast cancer.

For someone with metastatic breast cancer, where the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, treatment does not always mean that the cancer will disappear completely. If the cancer is not growing and the patient is not experiencing worsening symptoms, that can indicate that treatment is controlling the disease.

In the adjuvant setting, treatment is often given after the primary cancer has been treated to reduce the risk of recurrence. If the cancer does not return, that is an indication that the overall treatment approach has been successful at preventing or delaying recurrence.

How Is Breast Cancer Research Giving Patients More Treatment Options?

Breast cancer research is not just about discoveries happening in laboratories. The progress made through research is changing the treatments patients receive today.

From more personalized treatment decisions and biomarker testing to newer therapies such as antibody-drug conjugates, advances are giving doctors more tools to treat breast cancer and helping patients live longer with the disease.

For patients preparing to begin treatment, Shah's advice is straightforward: ask questions about your tumor's biomarkers and how those results are being used to guide your treatment.

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