In today’s society, the incidence of breast cancer is getting higher and higher, but some people can survive long-term for 10 or 20 years after treatment, while others recur, metastasize and die in 2 or 3 years, why? According to the current research results, scientists use gene expression profiling technology to classify breast cancer into 5 molecular subtypes, namely ①luminal A, ②luminal B, and ③HER2.
B), ③HER2
overexpression type, ④basal-like type, and ⑤ normal mammary gland-like type. Of these, the last category is thought to be probably produced by tissue contamination. It has been found that aspects such as patient prognosis and treatment response are significantly related to the first four classifications mentioned above; in other words, the malignancy of breast cancer differs between molecular types. In other words, although they are all bad guys, they are also divided into big bad guys and small punks who can be rehabilitated for good. But gene expression profiling tests are, after all, expensive and not very accessible. People then tried to find an easy method that could be an alternative. After years of practice, scientists found that some data obtained using immunohistochemistry could be an approximate substitute for complex genetic testing techniques for molecular typing of breast cancer. While the data obtained by immunohistochemistry is in the patient’s pathology report, the molecular typing of breast cancer can be performed simply by using a combination of four common antibodies. They include estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), HER2 and Ki-67 (cell proliferation index). Different types of breast cancer can be harmful to patients in different ways. Statistically, “dagger-wielding punks” account for about 45-70% of all malignants, so the majority of breast cancer patients have a good prognosis. “The prognosis is also good. The “gangsters with assault rifles” account for about 15% of the patients, and can get good remission through chemotherapy and targeted therapy. The worst prognosis is the “bazooka-carrying” triple-negative breast cancer, which accounts for 10-15% of all malignants. Although this type of breast cancer is sensitive to chemotherapy, it is prone to recurrence and metastasis, which is the most harmful to patients. However, it is not possible to treat this type of breast cancer mechanically based on the above molecular typing, for example, patients with Luminal A
For example, patients with Luminal A can be treated with endocrine therapy alone. However, if the lesion is long-lasting and metastasis occurs in the axillary lymph nodes or even other sites, then it is not only endocrine therapy, but also chemotherapy or even radiotherapy. This is like saying that the dagger-wielding punks are also harmful if they are not eliminated for a long time and grow into an axe gang! Knowing the above knowledge can help the general patients to understand breast cancer initially, however, the specific treatment measures should listen to the professional physician’s advice, after all, modern technology is developing rapidly, new treatment methods are emerging, and the types of diseases that were previously helpless can now be easily dealt with!