the of mom It is one of the cancers that have a biological subclassification more advanced, which allows a more personalized and precise medicine. exist four types of breast cancer. First of all there are the hormone dependent (also called hormone-sensitive or luminal), which are those that depend on hormones, especially estrogens, and which represent the 70% of breast cancers. Within hormone-dependent tumors there are, in turn, two subtypes: those of type A (with a better prognosis, but not very sensitive to chemotherapy) and those of type B (with a slightly worse prognosis, but sensitive to chemo). The new drug targets these two types of hormone-dependent tumors Verzenios, developed in Spain from the molecule abemaciclib and that doubles the survival of patients who have metastases.
Third are tumors. HER2 positive, what do they mean between 15% and 20% of breast cancer. They are those that have the highly overexpressed HER2 protein. Currently there are drugs specifically directed against this protein. And finally there is the triple Negative Tumor, that does not fit into any of the previous classifications and that also represents a fifteen% of breast cancer. The triple negative is a very aggressive tumor that mainly affects young women. At the moment, there are no drugs against it, so it is fought only with chemotherapy. However, recent research suggests that immunotherapy could be effective in this type of breast cancer.
“In the 1980s, 70% of women were relapse-free at five years. Now, they are almost 90%”
Researcher of Lilly Spain
“The main advance in breast cancer survival has occurred in the initial stages of the disease,” explains Maria Jose Lallena, researcher and director of the R&D center of Lilly Spain, the pharmaceutical company that has developed the drug Verzenios for hormone-sensitive tumors. “In this phase and according to data from the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) -continues Lallena-, women diagnosed with breast cancer with the possibility of being free of relapse five years after diagnosis was around 70% in the 80’s Currently, the percentage is close to almost 90%”. Only between 5% and 10% of breast cancer is hereditary.
bone health
The aromatase inhibitors They are medicines necessary for the treatment of breast cancer as therapy after surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy. They must apply for five years. But clinical trials show that these inhibitors have effects on bone: that is, the woman survives breast cancer, but at the expense of losing bone mass. That is, to develop osteoporosis.
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“We have drugs to prevent it. That’s why we resort to antiresorptive Agents, such as bisphosphonates or Desonumab, in the early context of patients who have undergone surgery and are receiving hormonal treatment so as not to relapse”, explains Meritxell Bellet, oncologist at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO). There are diagnostic tests to detect these problems early, such as bone densitometry. Early diagnosis, added to the different pharmacological treatments to combat the loss of bone mass, has improved the quality of life of patients with breast cancer.