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This treatment can help a quarter of breast cancer patients, and I'm not sure you've heard of it - voila! health

2022-08-03T07:17:57.859Z


Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor among women and it can be fatal especially when it is detected in late stages. Get to know the treatment for patients with HER2 expression


This treatment can help a quarter of breast cancer patients, and it is not certain that you have heard of it

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy among women.

The disease can be dangerous and fatal especially when it is discovered in late stages.

Today, medicine treats each type of cancer differently and allows treatment even for patients with HER2 expression.

One of the innovative treatments gives many the possibility of hope

In collaboration with AstraZeneca

03/08/2022

Wednesday, 03 August 2022, 13:42

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The deadliest cancer for women. (Photo: ShutterStock)

Merav Saror, 51 years old from Ramat Gan, in a relationship, mother of three daughters, who was diagnosed five years ago with HER2 type breast cancer.

Merav was diagnosed with localized breast cancer and was treated with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, after which tests showed no evidence of the disease.

However, unfortunately, about two years ago, when she returned to her normal life, it was discovered that the cancer had returned.

Merav was diagnosed in stage 4 of the disease with metastases throughout the body in the bones and head.

"My body said, 'You thought you recovered, but you were confused.'"



"Three years after the first discovery of the cancer, I started having severe headaches without being able to sleep, a squint appeared, and it became unbearable," Merav says.

"I came to Prof. Roni Gamzo who hospitalized me. They did tests on me and discovered that the cancer had returned in full force. In the PET-CT test used to diagnose cancerous tumors, they saw that the cancer is everywhere in the body, in the bones of the pelvis, in the liver, in the head."

Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor among women, and every year in Israel approximately 5,000 women are diagnosed with the disease.

As with many types of cancer, in this case too early diagnosis has a significant advantage and the earlier the disease is detected, the greater the patient's chances of cure, and in most cases are more than 90 percent.



At the same time, every year about 5 percent of patients with breast cancer are diagnosed with an advanced disease stage, a stage in which the tumor has spread throughout the body and sent metastases to other organs.

In addition, some women who were diagnosed with the disease at an early stage and received treatment, may suffer from a recurrence of the cancer in a metastatic stage in the future.

Unfortunately, in the case of an advanced disease, it is not possible to bring the patient to a complete cure, and the treatment itself is focused on prolonging the patient's life while also trying to maintain the quality of life.



It is important to understand that breast cancer is not one disease and the treatment varies according to the type of disease of a patient.

The biological characteristics of each tumor are different and a thorough understanding of the genomic profile in each patient can help tailor a more precise treatment for her.

Division into 3 groups of sands

It is customary to divide breast cancer into three types: the first is hormonal breast cancer and is the most common type.

About 70% of the patients will be diagnosed with this type of the disease and the patients will receive treatment with anti-hormonal drugs.

The second, which accounts for about 25% of patients, is breast cancer with overexpression of a protein called HER2.

It is a protein found on the cell membrane and it makes breast cancer much more malignant and much less sensitive to treatments.

In this case chemotherapy treatment is less effective for this group of patients.

The third is a "triple negative" type of cancer - patients whose tumors do not have hormones and do not express HER2, and in these cases only chemotherapy treatment is given.



The identification of the HER2 receptor made it possible two decades ago to develop the first biological treatment for this type of disease.

In recent years, the world of science and medicine has improved and a new and effective treatment group has been developed for patients with HER2 based on an "antibody attached to chemotherapy".

These are drugs with a unique mechanism of action.

In fact, the treatment works similarly to a "target guided missile".

The drug consists of an antibody that carries the active chemical substance and is released in the body only in the environment of the tumor itself.

In this way, a large concentration of the drug reaches the cancerous tumor and does not harm the healthy cells.

These drugs were able to delay the progression of the disease and even increase the survival rates of the patients and lead to a real revolution in the treatment of this group of patients.

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Each cancer requires a different treatment.

Metastatic breast cancer illustration (Photo: ShutterStock)

"I was on the verge of death"

Merav was hospitalized for about three weeks and was right on the verge of system collapse.

The doctors weren't sure she would survive the night.

"There were days when I was hanging between life and death and they didn't know if I would make it through the day," she says.

"They gave me large amounts of chemotherapy, radiation and biological drugs. My doctor said that all that was left was to pray. After three weeks I was released and entered a course of regular treatments."



The medical team decided to try to give her drug treatment for HER2 and Merav's condition improved significantly.

In March 2021, the drug stopped being useful and the results of the PET-CT test showed worsening of the disease and new foci of the tumors.

Merav switched treatment to another drug and once again the disease is in remission.

"As of today, I'm on Remsia," Merav says, "as far as I'm concerned, I feel healthy, but medicine doesn't agree with me. The last tests from April showed good results. Every time I believe that everything will be fine and I'll beat the disease despite everything."



Merav Seror takes part in the activities of the "Gamani" association, which holds social gatherings, lectures, fun days, workshops and trips for its members all over the country.

In addition, the association operates a closed Facebook group for women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.

To join click here

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Source: walla

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