Treatment for secondary breast cancer

Although it cannot usually be cured, secondary breast cancer can usually be effectively controlled for a long time.

The treatments available include hormonal therapy, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and monoclonal antibody therapy. The best treatment for you will depend on:

• which parts of the body are affected by the secondary breast cancer
• whether you have had your menopause
• the treatment you have had in the past
• your age and general health
• whether the cancer cells have oestrogen receptors
• whether the cells have growth factor receptors

Doctors usually try to treat secondary breast cancer with the treatment that is most likely to control the breast cancer and cause the fewest side effects.

Chemotherapy drugs, hormonal therapies and monoclonal antibody drugs are carried round the body in the bloodstream, so can treat cancer cells wherever they are in the body. This is known as systemic therapy.

Radiotherapy or surgery treats one area at a time and can be very helpful in treating individual areas of cancer, particularly in the bones or parts of the brain or the skin.