The risk of recurrence of "this kind of breast cancer" has doubled! Medical exposure: Choosing the right treatment can prevent the recurrence and metastasis of cancer cells
According to statistics, “one person develops breast cancer every 42 minutes.” Breast cancer has ranked first among female cancers in Taiwan for 18 consecutive years, and the mortality rate remains high. According to statistics from the Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2021, the incidence of breast cancer The number of cases is as high as 15,000, and the number of deaths is 2,913. Among them, HER2 breast cancer, which is the most likely to relapse, has a recurrence risk of up to 2 times if early-stage patients do not achieve pathological complete response (Non-pCR) after surgery. In this regard, Taiwan Health Insurance Administration Starting from August this year (2024), Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADC) will be provided for early-stage HER2 breast cancer. Eligible patients can apply with the help of doctors, which will also usher in new good news for breast cancer patients.
“The key to determining long-term prognosis and mortality is how to deal with the invisible residual cancer cells after surgery.” In fact, the key to why breast cancer is so scary is that cancer cells may still metastasize through lymph and blood vessels. According to statistics from the Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2021, 86% of breast cancer patients undergo surgery for the first time, which is much higher than other cancers, but it still cannot prevent the metastasis of cancer cells. Chen Shoudong, chairman of the Taiwan Breast Medical Association, said, “Surgery can remove solid tumors, but it cannot prevent the metastasis of cancer cells.” It is impossible to kill all the free cancer cells. If the cancer cells are allowed to proliferate, they will immediately become the most troublesome and the most feared stage for all patients. "
Early-stage HER2 breast cancer “has not achieved pathological complete response” and the risk of recurrence after surgery is 2 times higher
Why is HER2 breast cancer prone to recurrence and metastasis? Huang Junsheng, director of the Breast Medicine Center of National Taiwan University Hospital, explained that if breast cancer is HER2 receptor-positive, it means that the cancer cells are prone to rapid division, increased chances of metastasis and drug resistance. When the disease progresses to a certain level, it also means that the risk of future recurrence will increase. For HER2 positivity, if there is axillary lymph node metastasis, or if the non-metastatic tumor is larger than 2 cm, it is judged to be high risk. Especially if it is a Non-pCR after surgery, the risk of recurrence will be 2 times higher than that of those who have achieved it, so it is necessary to The key to achieving the goal of curing early-stage breast cancer lies in how to accurately control the risk of recurrence and choose the right treatment to prevent the recurrence and metastasis of cancer cells.
Nowadays, ADC drugs have become a new weapon for the treatment of HER2 breast cancer, and their mechanism has indeed improved the survival rate of early-stage HER2 breast cancer. Vice President Zeng Lingmin of Taipei Veterans General Hospital said that the first ADC to be developed was the one that was approved for payment this time. The HER2 monoclonal antibody carries a link, which is a highly toxic small molecule chemotherapy. Guided by the HER2 monoclonal antibody, it can accurately find cancer cells and perform poisoning to achieve the therapeutic effect.
Clinical trials of ADC drugs to accurately attack cancer cells: reduce the risk of recurrence by 50%
In fact, ADC drugs are also called “magic bullets”. The key is that they can target the over-expressed HER2 and accurately find cancer cells, allowing the cancer cells to swallow the ADC drugs whole and explode directly inside the tumor. Reduce side effects; Vice President Zeng Lingmin pointed out that the US SABCS (San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium) report in December last year pointed out that for early-stage high-risk HER2 breast cancer non-pCR patients, after receiving 14 courses of drug treatment after surgery, they effectively reduced the risk of nearly five It reduces the risk of recurrence and reduces the risk of death by 35%. In addition, the internationally authoritative NCCN guidelines for cancer treatment also list ADC drugs as the preferred choice for postoperative adjuvant treatment in the non-pCR group of early high-risk HER2 breast cancer.
However, in the past, ADC drugs still had to be paid for out-of-pocket treatment. The good news is that in August this year, the Taiwan Health Insurance Administration began to conditionally cover the antibody drug complex (ADC) for early-stage HER2 breast cancer, including patients with overexpressed HER2 and high-risk early-stage tumors. For any condition, including those who have received preoperative auxiliary treatment, or who still have residual disease after surgery, as long as they are qualified by the doctor’s evaluation, they can apply for ADC benefits for up to 14 courses of postoperative auxiliary treatment, which is expected to reduce the patient’s burden of nearly one million yuan.
In addition, Vice President Zeng Lingmin also reminded that although ADC drugs are milder than general chemotherapy, they may still produce side effects such as thrombocytopenia, anemia, nausea and vomiting, fatigue and fever during treatment. If you have any discomfort, you should report it to your doctor immediately. , to facilitate doctors’ timely assessment and adjustment of medication.
Further reading:
