There are many types of drugs used to treat metastatic or recurrent breast cancer, including chemotherapy and endocrine therapy.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy drugs can be used alone or in combination. When treating human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2)-positive breast cancer, chemotherapy drugs can be used in combination with trastuzumab or lapatinib. Commonly used chemotherapeutic agents are:
- Capecitabine
- Cyclophosphamide
- Docetaxel
- Doxorubicin
- Epirubicin
- Gicitabine
- Paclitaxel
- Vincristine
Endocrine therapy
Endocrine therapy drugs include aromatase inhibitors, tamoxifen, estrogen receptor antagonists (e.g., fulvestrant), and megestrol.
Targeted therapies
May include:
- Monoclonal antibodies, such as trastuzumab antibody-drug couples, patuximab, trastuzumab.
- Tyrosine kinase inhibitors, such as lapatinib.
- Polyadenosine diphosphate ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors, used to treat triple-negative breast cancer.
Other drugs
Other drugs that can be used for metastatic or recurrent breast cancer include corticosteroids for metastatic breast cancer of the brain or spinal cord, and bisphosphonates for metastatic breast cancer of the bone. Opioid painkillers are the most commonly used drugs to treat cancer pain.
There are also drugs that can be used to reduce the side effects of treatment. For example, chemotherapy often causes nausea and vomiting, and doctors may prescribe medications that can be taken with the chemotherapy drugs to prevent nausea and vomiting.