Along with many other health issues, obese breast cancer patients face a particularly grim prognosis, with an amplified risk of recurrence and an increased risk of dying of the disease.
In recent years, there's been an explosion of life-saving treatment advances against breast cancer, bringing new hope and excitement.
Hormonal treatment is considered a systemic therapy, which means the medication travels in the bloodstream to affect or treat cancer cells. It may be used to reduce the growth or spread of breast cancer. If the cancer is found to be of the type that may be sensitive to estrogen, hormonal treatment may be able to keep estrogen from helping the cancer cells to grow and divide.
Breast cancer cells require estrogen for growth and development. Estrogen is supplied to the cancer cells via receptors on the cell surface. Tamoxifen blocks estrogen from binding with these receptors especially if the breast cancer tumour is estrogen receptor positive. In addition, Tamoxifen displays an estrogenic-like effect on several body systems.
The term oral anti-cancer medicines includes those with direct anti-tumour activity and targeted therapies such as kinase inhibitors. It does not include hormonal or anti-hormonal therapy used to treat cancer.
Doctors, nurses, pharmacists and their staff must prescribe, dispense and administer oral anti-cancer medicines to the same standard as injected therapy and must be monitored in the same way.
