Now Reminder Sign up here for our popular mammogram reminder program Breast Cancer Center Treatment Systemic Therapy To reach cancer cells that may have spread beyond the breast and nearby tissues, physicians employ systemic therapy, given orally or by injection. Examples of systemic treatments include chemotherapy and hormonal therapy.
Systemic therapy given to patients after surgery is called adjuvant therapy.
The goal of adjuvant therapy is to kill hidden cells. Even in the early stages of the disease cancer cells can break away from the primary breast tumor and spread through the bloodstream. But they can establish new tumors in other organs or the bones. In women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, systemic therapy rather than surgery serves as the main treatment. Either way, the drugs travel in the bloodstream and move throughout the entire body.