Mastectomy to remove the breast containing the original tumour in Stage 4 Her2 +ve breast cancer patients has been shown to increase survival.
Normally, surgery is not considered where women have been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer but according to Sharon Lum from Loma Linda University Health (CA, USA) and Ross Mudgway University of California, Riverside School of Medicine their research shows that not removing the primary tumour reduces survival times (1).
Although targeted therapies are now commonly used for greater survival, using data from the National Cancer Database, even women on these therapies benefitted from increased survival is a mastectomy was performed. In America, a mastectomy was more common if the patient had private health care and if the patient was white.
The sequence of events still needs to be studied but Lum was quite adamant over the results. A mastectomy at any point gives people with stage 4 HER2 breast cancer a greater survival time.
Chris Woollams, former Oxford University Biochemist added, "This really isn't simply a question of science; this really is a highly emotive issue. It would have been good to know 'how much extra survival' on average the woman got. They might help make the decision clearer."
Go to: Foods that help fight HER2 cancer
Reference
- https://www.oncology-central.com/disease-area/breast/her2-surgery-and-breast-cancer-an-interview-with-sharon-lum-and-ross-mudgway/
CANCERactive – empowering you with science-based medicine