How effective is endocrine therapy for breast cancer

The biggest feature of breast cancer is that its occurrence and development are related to the level of estrogen and its metabolism in the body. Therefore, for patients with positive estrogen and progesterone receptors, endocrine therapy is one of the most effective means to reduce the risk of recurrence. However, the efficacy of endocrine therapy has nothing to do with the state of endocrine function, but mainly depends on the differentiation of tumor cells and the status of hormone receptors. As long as the patients are properly screened, its efficacy is not worse than chemotherapy.

Endocrine therapy reduces recurrence and mortality after surgery for non-metastatic breast cancer

Relevant statistics show that endocrine therapy combined with chemotherapy can reduce the annual recurrence rate by 24% and the annual mortality rate by 15%. For estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer patients, if they receive endocrine therapy for 5 years after surgery, the effect is significant, which can reduce the annual recurrence risk by 47% and the annual mortality risk by 26%. For female breast cancer patients under 40 years old, the effect is even more obvious, and the risk of recurrence and death can be reduced by 54% and 52% respectively.

Endocrine therapy also has an advantage in the treatment of advanced metastatic breast cancer

Research has found that 20% to 30% of unscreened metastatic breast cancer patients achieve good results with endocrine therapy. For patients with advanced breast cancer, endocrine therapy can allow them to have a higher quality of life while receiving treatment. If patients develop resistance to an endocrine therapy drug after long-term endocrine therapy, other drugs can still be effective. Therefore, it can be widely used in the treatment of advanced breast cancer.