If someone is diagnosed with breast cancer, then the next step is deciding on the plan of attack. There are five general options available. The doctor should help the patient make a decision based on the stage of the cancer, the size, the tumor’s biological characteristics and the general health of the patient.
Breast Cancer Treatment Options
Surgery is a pretty common option. The goal is to remove the malignant tissue from the body, analyze it and to prevent breast cancer recurrence. There are different types of surgery available based on the size and location of the tumor. Breast biopsy and lymph node removal are diagnostic operations performed to detect the presence of cancer and the degree to which it has spread. Other surgery breast cancer treatments performed in order to remove the cancerous tissue are the lumpectomy, the quadrantectomy and the mastectomy.
Radiation is an effective way of treating breast cancer, and one of the most common breast cancer treatments. The malignant cells grow in an uncontrollable and unorganized fashion due to defects in the patient’s DNA. Radiation treatment for breast cancer can target these cells and stop their growth, while leaving nearby cells mostly undamaged with minimal side effects. This technology is constantly improving and has become very efficient at targeting and destroying cancer cells. The two main types of radiation breast cancer treatments are performed using an external beam or an internal beam.
Chemotherapy is another efficient way of fighting breast cancer, even though it presents itself with a lot of side effects including nausea, hair loss, vomiting and fatigue. It is considered a systemic therapy since it goes everywhere in your body’s system and kills the cancer cells. It can be used in all stages of cancer. The chemotherapy can be adjuvant and neoadjuvant. The adjuvant chemotherapy is used after a breast cancer tumor has been removed to help eliminate all other cancer cells that are still present in the patient’s body. The neoadjuvant chemotherapy is used before a medical procedure to help shrink the tumor. People that go through such breast cancer treatments will need white and red blood cell booster shots, frequent blood tests and blood transfusions.
Breast cancer needs estrogen to grow. Hormonal therapies are used to eliminate the estrogen and starve the cancer cells until they die. These breast cancer treatments are: estrogen receptor blockers, aromatase inhibitors, oopherectomy and chemical ovarian suppression.
Various targeted therapies are designed to attack and disrupt the processes that lead to cancer growth. These breast cancer treatments include Tykerb, Herceptin, Avastin and Iressa.
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