Breast Cancer Treatment Options

Shortly after you’re diagnosed with breast cancer, you  meet with your doctor and possibly other members of your healthcare team to decide which of the many available breast cancer treatment options are right for you. 

Each case of breast cancer is unique, which is why understanding your pathology report is so important for you and your doctor to put together a treatment plan. 

Your treatment plan is made up of one or more specific therapies to treat the breast cancer and reduce the risk of the cancer coming back (also called recurrence).

If you have questions or doubts about your diagnosis or proposed treatment plan, you should never hesitate to get a second opinion. While a second opinion may confirm your original doctor’s diagnosis, another doctor may also be able to provide more details about the type and stage of the breast cancer, raise additional treatment options you hadn’t considered, or recommend a different course of action.

This is also a good time to reach out to palliative care, also sometimes called supportive care. Unlike hospice, palliative care can be used at any stage of treatment to help with planning your care and managing symptoms. In fact, the earlier in your treatment course you start, the more helpful it can be.

In many — but not all — cases, surgery is the first treatment for breast cancer.

Treatments given before surgery are called neoadjuvant treatments.  For example, many people receive chemotherapy before surgery. Neoadjuvant treatments help shrink the cancer so surgery may be less extensive. The response to neoadjuvant treatments can help doctors decide which treatments, if any, are needed after surgery.

Treatments given after surgery are called adjuvant treatments and help reduce the risk of recurrence.

When deciding on the order of treatment, you and your doctor will consider the characteristics of the cancer, the results of any genomic tests you’ve had, and your personal preferences.

The type of breast cancer surgery you have depends on the characteristics of the cancer, any other health conditions you have, and your personal preferences. You may have a choice here, for example, between lumpectomy or mastectomy, or single or double mastectomy.   

Chemotherapy drugs are powerful medicines that kill cancer cells or stop them from growing. Chemo is a common treatment option for many types of breast cancer. Depending on the stage, hormone receptor status, and other characteristics of the breast cancer, chemotherapy may be given before or after surgery.

Radiation therapy — also called radiotherapy — kills cancer cells and shrinks tumors. Radiation therapy may be given before or after surgery for early-stage breast cancer, but is commonly given after surgery. It can also treat breast cancer that can’t be removed with surgery (unresectable) and advanced-stage and metastatic breast cancer.

Hormonal therapy — also called anti-estrogen therapy, endocrine therapy, or hormone therapy  —  is used to treat all stages of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. Hormonal therapy may be used before or after breast cancer surgery.

Targeted therapy targets specific characteristics of cancer cells, like proteins that allow the cell to grow rapidly. These medications are generally less likely to affect healthy cells than chemotherapy. Targeted therapy medicines may be given before or after surgery, and they’re sometimes given along with chemotherapy. In some cases, you may receive targeted therapy before surgery and then receive it again after surgery.

Immunotherapy boosts the ability of your immune system to recognize and attack cancer cells. These medicines stop or slow cancer cells from growing and spreading to other parts of the body before the immune system kills the cancer cells. Immunotherapy is used to treat both early-stage and advanced-stage and metastatic breast cancer. For early-stage disease, you may receive immunotherapy and chemotherapy before surgery, and then immunotherapy after surgery. 

For many people diagnosed with breast cancer, complementary medicine, such as acupuncture or massage, helps to relieve treatment side effects, relieve symptoms of the cancer, and improve quality of life. Complementary therapies may be used at almost any time during breast cancer treatment.

Clinical trials are studies of new drugs, treatments, or procedures. Participating in a clinical trial not only increases the number of treatment options available to you, but also advances breast cancer research.

Before new treatments are approved to be used in people, much research is done to ensure they’re safe and effective. The results of these studies are presented at breast cancer conferences each year, including the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, and the European Society for Medical Oncology Congresses.

— Last updated on February 28, 2025 at 8:47 PM