CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, Vol 41, Issue 4 242-256, Copyright © 1991 by American Cancer Society
The treatment of metastatic breast cancer
E. J. Greenberg
Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.
While metastatic breast cancer is not curable, it is treatable. Its
treatment is associated with a relatively high rate of success, and
patients are able to maintain a good quality of life for periods ranging
from a few months to several years. This knowledge should encourage both
the patient and the oncologist to maintain treatment as long as potentially
effective therapeutic methods are available. Progress is ongoing both in
the development of new forms of treatment and in new ways of using and
combining already existing therapeutic modalities. There is still no
established "best" or "only" first treatment of metastatic breast cancer.
When secondary and later treatment is to be undertaken, the task of
selecting the most appropriate treatment becomes even more complex. It is
only through controlled clinical trials that useful therapeutic guidelines
will develop. Treatment is a joint endeavor involving both the physician
and the patient. Communication must remain open. In the final stages of the
illness, treatment should be directed toward the relief of distressing
symptoms and anxiety.
