‘Above All: We Want to Live, and Hope for Cure’

[摘要] ‘After the shock of the first breast cancer diagnosis and coping with the fear of imminent death, there is growing hope for survival and cure in the adjuvant setting’, said Renate Haidinger, Neubiberg/Germany, a medical journalist and a breast cancer patient herself. Women are often willing to accept intensive therapy and endure toxicity for the sake of being cured. The diagnosis of recurrence and metastatic disease is a devastating blow and associated with feelings of anger alternating with hopelessness, deep despair, anxiety, fear of dying and pain, as well as a whole range of emotions, such as self-blame. However, with the evolution of new and highly individualized targeted therapies based on tumor biology markers, metastatic breast cancer can often be effectively controlled for a long time, like a chronic disease. ‘Coping with metastatic disease, women wish to receive treatments that provide the greatest long-term efficacy with the lowest risk of severe adverse events and a good management of side effects, allowing to live a normal, independent, active and high-quality life as long as possible. They want to be able to do things they want to do like travel and work, and stay in good shape without any pain’, resumed Haidinger. Due to relative independence from doctors' offices or hospitals, individualized oral therapies are a promising option for these patients.

[学科分类] 泌尿医学