Abstract

HERNANDEZ, Dimas E. Tratamiento médico del cáncer de mama. Gac Méd Caracas [online]. 2007, vol.115, n.2, pp.109-112. ISSN 0367-4762.

Medical treatment of breast cancer can be divided as follows: adjuvant, neoadjuvant, metastatic disease, and finally quimioprofilaxis. Adjuvant treatment prevent the developing of the disease, and it is used when the local treatment is completed. Hormonotherapy and/or chemotherapy are employed. Neoadjuvant treatment is used to reduce the primary tumor and decrease the risk of distant metastasis. The effectivity is measured according to the percentage of pathological complete responses. Chemotherapy or hormonotherapy are also employed. Metastatic disease is incurable and the main objective of treatment is prolonging survival with a good quality of life. Monochemotherapy, polychemotherapy and hormonotherapy are used. Quimioprofilaxis is indicated in patients with high risk of developing breast cancer. Finally, in spite of these great advances, early diagnosis continues to be the main goal to have a good prognosis.

Keywords : Breast cancer; Medical treatment.