Despite being the most common tumor among women around the world, with more than 34,000 new diagnoses in 2022 in Spain, according to the Cancer Observatory of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC), breast cancer is also one of which has a higher average five-year survival rate, reaching 85%. Behind these figures are the progress in prevention and early detection, as well as in research, three essential pillars to understand the reduction in mortality from this disease in recent years, which, despite its progress, still has a long way to go.
Specifically, as the GEIMAM breast cancer research group reminds us, it must be taken into account that breast cancer “is still an unresolved disease in its metastatic phase (that is, when the cancer has spread to other parts of the body), and that up to 30% of patients with an early diagnosis will have a relapse with metastasis even several years after completing their treatments.” Likewise, they add, currently, 5-6% of all breast cancers are diagnosed in the metastatic phase.
Along the same lines, the AECC recalls that not all tumors are the same and that “in some cases they continue to have a poor prognosis: triple negative breast cancer, the most aggressive and with the highest probability of relapse; HER2, characterized by its aggressiveness and poor prognosis; or metastatic, with a five-year survival rate of 25% (according to 2022 data for the United States from the American Cancer Society), very far from the 85% of all breast cancers.” Faced with this reality, research teams are working to develop more effective and targeted treatments that increase the survival and quality of life of people with breast cancer, delve into the causes of its origin or improve knowledge of the most aggressive types. of this tumor.
Entities and organizations such as the AECC, which has allocated 17.7 million euros to 79 research projects; the GEICAM group, with a line of translational research – which involves the collection of biological samples –; the CRIS foundation (Cancer Research
This association focuses its resources on triple negative breast cancer projects, responsible for between 10 and 20% of tumors and considered the most aggressive and with the worst prognosis. They are investigating, among other aspects, the effectiveness of immunotherapy, the discovery of new targets or weak points of tumor cells to which new treatments can be directed, or the definition of characteristics that predict their response to chemotherapy to improve the effectiveness of treatments.
In the field of metastatic breast cancer, which represents between 5 and 6% of all those diagnosed, research focuses on projects aimed at identifying metastasis in early stages, predicting its evolution, identifying factors that favor the spread of the cancer of other organs or its approach with radiosurgery. Regarding research into HER2 breast cancer, characterized by its poor prognosis (it represents 20% of diagnosed breast cancers), the projects funded by the AECC focus on the development of new therapies, such as immunotherapy, and development of new, more effective therapeutic options.
For its part, the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona has TILS, a personalized immunotherapy program that consists of manipulating and stimulating the patient's immune system so that it attacks its own cancer. The Unit also develops numerous clinical trials, dedicated mainly to two fields of research, early breast cancer and metastatic breast cancer. Likewise, the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM) points out that a very relevant advance in the last three decades has been the increase in conservative surgeries, “avoiding unnecessary mastectomies, as well as less intervention on the armpit, reducing the risk of lymphedema. and improving the quality of life of women with breast cancer.” Alba P
