“CDK4/6 inhibitors, PARP inhibitors, talazoparib, pembrolizumab”… So many somewhat barbaric names that you have probably never heard of.
And yet, behind these scientific names, hide drugs which are revolutionizing the treatment of breast cancer, a disease which affects more than 5,700 women each year in Switzerland.
Until not very long ago, the management of this cancer involved and still involves the use of the classic triad of treatments including, either in combination or independently, surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, the choice and the order of recourse to each therapeutic option depending on multiple factors: the age of the woman, the size of the tumor, the type of cancer, the existence of possible metastases, etc. In the case of so-called hormone-dependent tumors, the most common in breast cancer, oncologists can also add hormone therapy for several years.
New weapon…
To this therapeutic arsenal, which makes it possible to obtain results that are all the more convincing when the tumor is diagnosed early, we now add what we call targeted therapies.
As their name suggests, these therapies are treatments capable of very specifically targeting cancer cells. With one big difference: while chemotherapy or radiotherapy act indiscriminately, attacking both cancer cells and healthy cells, and thus induce significant side effects, such as the classic hair loss or unpleasant problems gastrointestinal, targeted therapies prove much easier for patients to tolerate.
Specific action
Their principle? Act specifically, inside the tumor cells or in the surrounding blood vessels, on the molecular mechanisms specific to each cancer, and which allow the tumor to grow, develop and spread in the patient’s body.
Each targeted therapy is therefore carefully chosen by the oncologist according to the specific characteristics of each patient, which makes it a precision and personalized medicine which leads to excellent results, with a significant improvement in cure rates.
Refund…
At the cutting edge of research, these treatments, some of which are still experimental, are very expensive, but are completely reimbursed by basic health insurance (LAMal).
Certain very recent substances which must first be approved by Swissmedic, the authorization and monitoring authority for therapeutic products in Switzerland, may also be covered within the framework of studies financed by public or private funds.
With the collaboration of
Montchoisi Clinic
Chemin des Allinges 10, 1006 Lausanne
021 619 39 39, [email protected]
The specialist’s opinion: Dr Stéphane Welti
FMH specialist in gynecology and obstetrics.
Is breast cancer a public health problem in Switzerland?
A woman is considered to have a 12% risk of developing breast cancer during her lifetime, which is not negligible. The good news is that the majority of cancers diagnosed today are small tumors, thanks to the effectiveness of screening campaigns and the existence of reactive medicine in Switzerland. . This implies that taken at the beginning, these cancers fall under the classic treatment regimen. Very often in this case, the use of targeted therapies is therefore not useful.
So who are these targeted therapies intended for?
Generally for patients with complex, advanced cancers or those that express themselves with particular aggressiveness.
How do we use them?
Based on the histological, biochemical, immunological or genetic characteristics specific to each tumor, the oncologist prescribes these specific treatments in association with more traditional treatments, such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, etc.
With what results?
With these biomolecular therapies, remission rates are better. In addition, they tend to relegate the surgical procedure to the background because thanks to them, the use of surgery is less frequent. Research has progressed greatly and cancers once thought to be incurable are no longer so. Thus, the vital prognosis for a woman with breast cancer improves. But the importance of early detection remains fundamental!
