There are many different types of breast cancer. Likewise, there are many different ways of treating breast cancer, depending on the type of cancer, how far it has progressed, and personal decisions made by women and their health care professionals. This part of ABRAXANE.com provides an overview of these topics—please talk to your doctor to learn more. You can also visit other helpful resources on the Web to further explore these topics.
Click here for a list of online resources.
To learn more about breast cancer and chemotherapy, click on the links below:
About breast cancer tumors
The body is made up of billions of cells that form tissue and organs. Cells are replaced on a regular basis, allowing each organ to continue to function normally. During this process, cells that die are replaced by new cells. Occasionally, cells are replaced by abnormal cells that grow in an uncontrolled way. As a result, there is an abnormal growth or lump of cells that form a
tumor.
There are two kinds of breast tumors: noncancerous (benign) tumors and cancerous (malignant) tumors. Benign breast tumors are not cancerous and do not spread outside the breast in which they appear. Malignant breast tumors are cancerous and are made up of cells that can spread from the breast to other parts of the body.
There are several different types of breast cancer. In many cases, breast cancer starts in the ducts or lobules of the breast (where milk can be produced). In the early stages of breast cancer, breast tumors found in these ducts are called "in situ," meaning that they are in one location and are noninvasive. Invasive breast cancer means that the cancerous breast tumor has broken through the wall of the ducts or lobules and spread to other parts of the body.
Illustration courtesy of the National Cancer Institute
Treatment will vary depending on the type of breast cancer, so it is important to have a thorough medical examination to determine exactly which type is present. For more information about breast tumors, visit our Online Information page.
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About metastatic breast cancer
Some
tumors
are benign, meaning that they are not cancerous and will not spread beyond the breast into other organs. Malignant breast tumors are cancerous and are made up of cells that can spread from the breast to other parts of the body. Because of their ability to spread and grow in other organs, malignant breast tumors can interfere with normal body function and can be life-threatening.
Breast cancer cells that metastasize, or break away from the main malignant tumor, can travel to other parts of the body, such as the bones, liver, lungs, or brain. The blood and lymph are body fluids that can carry these cancer cells from the main tumor to other parts of the body.
ABRAXANE® is used to treat tumors that have spread to other parts of the body.
ABRAXANE is indicated for the treatment of breast cancer after failure of combination chemotherapy for metastatic disease or relapse within 6 months of adjuvant chemotherapy. Prior therapy should have included an anthracycline unless clinically contraindicated.
For more information about metastatic breast cancer, visit our Online Information page.
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Learning about chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to destroy cancer cells, including those that have spread to areas other than the breast.
The drugs used in chemotherapy are called cytotoxic drugs because they kill cells. The drugs circulate throughout the body in the bloodstream, killing both cancer cells and some healthy cells. Chemotherapy drugs are carefully controlled in both dosage and frequency so that cancer cells are destroyed while minimizing the risk to healthy cells. Several different types of cytotoxic agents are used to treat breast cancer.
The choice of chemotherapy is different for each person and depends on what kind of cancer a person has, how large the tumor is, and how far it has spread. You and your doctor will decide whether chemotherapy is right for you and which drugs are most appropriate given your type and stage of breast cancer.
For more information about chemotherapy, visit our Online Information page.
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