Your breast cancer’s stage, how far it has invaded (if it has), and how big the tumor has grown all play a large part in determining what kind of treatment you’ll need.
To start, your doctor will determine your cancer’s size, stage, and grade. Your cancer’s grade describes how likely it is to grow and spread. After that, you can discuss your treatment options.
Surgery is the most common treatment for breast cancer. Many people have additional treatments, such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation, or hormone therapy.
Surgery
Several types of surgery may be used to remove breast cancer, including:
*Lumpectomy.
This procedure removes the tumor and some surrounding tissue, leaving the rest of the breast intact.
In this procedure, a surgeon removes an entire breast. In a double mastectomy, they remove both breasts.
* Sentinel Node Biopsy.
This surgery removes a few of the lymph nodes that receive drainage from the tumor. These lymph nodes will be tested. If they don’t have cancer, you may not need additional surgery to remove more lymph nodes.
If lymph nodes removed during a sentinel node biopsy contain cancer cells, your doctor may remove additional lymph nodes.
* Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy.
Even though breast cancer may be present in only one breast, some people elect to have a contralateral prophylactic mastectomy. This surgery removes your healthy breast to lower your risk of developing breast cancer again.
With radiation therapy, high-powered beams of radiation are used to target and kill cancer cells. Most radiation treatments use external beam radiation. This technique uses a large machine on the outside of the body.
Advances in cancer treatment have also enabled doctors to irradiate cancer from inside the body. According to Breastcancer.org, this type of radiation treatment is called brachytherapy.
To conduct brachytherapy, surgeons place radioactive seeds, or pellets, inside the body near the tumor site. The seeds stay there for a short period of time and work to destroy cancer cells.
Chemotherapy :
Chemotherapy is a drug treatment used to destroy cancer cells. Some people may undergo chemotherapy on its own, but this type of treatment is often used along with other treatments, especially surgery.
Some people will have surgery first followed by other treatments, such as chemo or radiation. This is called adjuvant therapy. Others may have chemotherapy first to shrink the cancer, called neoadjuvant therapy, then surgery.
In some cases, doctors prefer to give chemotherapy before surgery. The hope is that the treatment will shrink the tumor, and then the surgery will not need to be as invasive.
Chemotherapy has many unwanted side effects, so discuss your concerns with your doctor before starting treatment.
Hormone Therapy :
If your type of breast cancer is sensitive to hormones, your doctor may start you on hormone therapy. Estrogen and progesterone, two female hormones, can stimulate the growth of breast cancer tumors.
Hormone therapy works by blocking your body’s production of these hormones or by blocking the hormone receptors on the cancer cells. This action can help slow and possibly stop the growth of your cancer.
Additional Medications:
Certain treatments are designed to attack specific irregularities or mutations within cancer cells.
For example, Herceptin (trastuzumab) can block your body’s production of the HER2 protein. HER2 helps breast cancer cells grow, so taking a medication to slow the production of this protein may help slow cancer growth.
Your doctor will tell you more about any specific treatment they recommend for you.
If you detect an unusual lump or spot in your breast or have any other symptoms of breast cancer, make an appointment to visit your doctor.
Chances are good that it’s not breast cancer. For instance, there are many other potential causes for breast lumps.
But if your problem does turn out to be cancer, keep in mind that early treatment is the key. Early stage breast cancer can often be treated and cured if found quickly enough. The longer breast cancer can grow, the more difficult treatment becomes.
If you’ve already received a breast cancer diagnosis, keep in mind that cancer treatments continue to improve, as do outcomes. So follow your treatment plan and try to stay positive.
Find out more about the outlook for different stages of breast cancer.
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