Advances in Breast Cancer Detection and Treatment

Traditional 2D mammograms take one image from the top and one from the side of your breast, but a 3D mammogram takes multiple images in an arc pattern. It combines them to form a three-dimensional image. This type of screening can help reduce the chance you’ll need a follow-up and may detect more cancers. It’s particularly helpful for women with dense breasts. 

Researchers are working on ways to match your personal breast cancer risk factors to a screening timeline. This could catch cancer early and also reduce overdiagnosis. The best plan for you is based on your family history, genetic makeup, things in the environment, and more.

This process looks at your genome. That’s a name for the set of genes in your body. Your doctor may use your genome to better personalize your breast cancer treatment. Researchers are using information from genomic tests to learn more about breast cancer and identify new subtypes, with hopes of developing new treatments in the future.

Doctors use hormone therapies to treat hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancers. Now they’re adding targeted therapies to these traditional treatments for metastatic or advanced HR+ or HER2+ breast cancers. This may keep the need for chemotherapy at bay for longer – and extend survival.

New therapies for triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are helping some people live longer. They include sacituzumab govitecan-hziy (Trodelvy), which treats TNBC that has spread; and pembrolizumab (Keytruda), an immunotherapy you can combine with chemo.

The FDA has approved two treatments for HER2-negative and TNBC that have the BRCA gene mutation: olaparib and talazoparib. These drugs are PARP inhibitors. PARP is a protein in your cells that helps them repair. By blocking it on cancer cells, PARP inhibitors promote cancer cell death. Compared to chemotherapy, PARP inhibitors can improve your quality of life when you have metastatic breast cancer.

More than half of all metastatic breast cancers have the HER2 protein at low levels on their cell surface. Instead of calling them HER2-negative, doctors now classify them as HER2-low. Clinical trials of the drug trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu) show improvement in survival rates for those with this type of breast cancer.

Oncoplastic surgery is a procedure where your surgeon does both a lumpectomy or mastectomy, and also reconstructive surgery at the same time. It has better cosmetic results.

Sentinel lymph node mapping helps surgeons figure out which lymph nodes in your body are at the highest risk of having breast cancer cells. This helps narrow down which ones your doctor will remove. It also preserves more nodes, leading to a faster recovery and less swelling. 

Advances in nerve-sparing and nerve-connection techniques during mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgeries are making it more likely that you can keep some feeling in your breast tissue.