Answer from Professor Catherine Kelly is a Consultant Medical Oncologist at Mater Private Network, Dublin.
Following an initial diagnosis, the expert led breast team at Mater Private Network will first work out what type of breast cancer you have. We will get this information from the biopsy, which is the sample of the cancer taken out of the breast with a needle. The three main types of breast cancer are estrogen-sensitive breast cancer, which is the most common type, HER2-positive breast cancer, which makes up 20% of cases, and triple negative breast cancer, which makes up only about 10% of cases.
Once your doctor knows the stage and type of cancer you have, treatment will vary depending on your needs. Some patients will have surgery, radiation. Others will need to see a medical oncologist. The medical oncologist’s job is to work out if the patients needs any type of chemotherapy or if they needs to take a hormone tablet.
For patients with HER2-positive breast cancer, the improvements in survival for early stage and for metastatic breast cancer are remarkable. These amazing improvements are down to many highly active anti-HER2 drugs. Most patients with early stage HER2-positive breast cancer do not relapse and for those with metastatic breast cancer we see women surviving for many years on treatment.
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