Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women. According to the American Cancer Society, women in the United States have a 1 in 8 chance of developing breast cancer at some point in their life.
Nevertheless, receiving a breast cancer diagnosis can be frightening and overwhelming. Many questions and concerns may come to mind, including worries about the potential side effects of breast cancer treatment.
Breast cancer treatments
There are several types of treatments for breast cancer.
Surgery
Surgery is often one of the first treatment steps for people with breast cancer. Depending on the location and size of a tumor, surgery may remove some breast tissue (breast-conserving surgery) or all of the breast tissue (mastectomy).
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (chemo) drugs can kill cancer cells or slow their growth. There are several situations where chemo may be used for breast cancer:
before breast cancer surgery to shrink a tumor (neoadjuvant chemo)
after breast cancer surgery to help lower the chances of cancer coming back (adjuvant chemo)
when breast cancer has spread (metastasized) to more distant tissues
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Hormone therapy
Some breast cancers have receptors that grow in response to the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Hormone therapy aims to block the activity of these receptors, preventing the cancer cells from growing.
Common hormone therapy drugs include:
- tamoxifen (Soltamox)
- anastrozole (Arimidex)
- fulvestrant (Faslodex)
- Targeted therapy
Targeted therapy drugs are designed to home in on specific biomarkers that are on the outside or inside of cancer cells. HER2 is an example of a biomarker that’s targeted by many of these drugs.
Common drugs used for targeted therapy include:
- trastuzumab (Herceptin)
- pertuzumab (Perjeta)
- trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu)
- Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy boosts your immune system’s ability to respond to cancer cells. While there are a few types of immunotherapy for cancer, a type called an immune checkpoint inhibitor is one that doctors may use for some breast cancers.
Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is a common immunotherapy drug.
Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy uses high-energy radiation to kill cancer cells. Doctors often use it after breast cancer surgery to help reduce the chances of cancer returning.
Short-term side effects of breast cancer treatments
Short-term side effects are the ones that happen immediately or shortly after starting treatment. They’re often temporary and easy when treatment concludes.
There’s generally a good bit of overlap in short-term side effects from the different types of breast cancer treatment. Some to be aware of include:
- fatigue
digestive side effects like:
- nausea and vomiting
- diarrhea
- constipation
- reduced appetite
- mouth sores
- headache
- body aches and pains
- hair loss
- skin rashes or reactions
- low blood cell counts, which can lead to:
- anemia
- increased infection risk
- easy bleeding or bruising
- sexual changes, such as:
- hot flashes
- vaginal dryness
- menstrual cycle changes
It’s important to know that short-term side effects can vary widely, even within treatment types. For example, two different targeted therapy drugs may have pretty different sets of common side effects.
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Long-term side effects of breast cancer treatments
Breast cancer treatment also has long-term side effects. These are side effects that can develop or persist long after your treatment has ended. You may also see them called late effects.
- impaired thinking ability
- difficulty sleeping
- sexual issues, such as vaginal dryness
- hot flashes
- pain
- fatigue
Other potential long-term effects of breast cancer treatment are:
- infertility
- early menopause
- altered breast appearance and feel
- bone loss
- brain fog
- neuropathy
- lymphedema
- heart damage
- depression and anxiety
Similar to the short-term side effects of breast cancer treatment, long-term side effects can depend on the exact type of treatment received. They may also vary greatly between people. No two individual experiences are exactly alike.