Annually, more than 2 million people are told they have cancer of the breast. Very rarely, even men will develop this disease. Breast cancer is second just to heart disease as the leading killer of adult aged women in America. Thanks to recent advancements in medical research, being diagnosed with breasts cancer doesn’t have to be the usual death sentences. It is now possible to discover and get breast cancer treatment done at an early stage.
Breast Cancer Treatment Stages
Breast Cancer treatment depend on how advanced the cancer is. TNM Staging is usually used worldwide to judge what treatment is necessary. Judging the tumor, or tumors, the nodes and if it has transferred to a different part of the body, also known as metastases. Once these items have been evaluated, the doctor will decide on a course of treatment.
The two main types of cancer are high grade and low grade. High-grade cancer is when there is a large risk of cancer coming back even after surgery. In this case, chemotherapy will be prescribed once the patient has healed from surgery. Some cancer specialists may opt out of surgery if the tumor has not spread to other parts of the body beyond the breast. As it is still in one area, chemotherapy may be the first treatment, which may be merged with radiotherapy.
The quicker you detect the Cancer, the simpler it will be to treat and the greater options you will have. The early level is defined when cancer has not passed on to other places in the body outside of the breast. Depending how far cancer has gone, there are several types of surgical options open for cancer of the breast treatment.
Conservative Surgery
The most common type of surgery for breast cancer treatment is called conservative surgery. This is when the physician removes the diseased muscle from the breast, being careful not to take too much healthy cells. While he’s removing cancer, a tiny amount of healthy tissue is removed as well. This is then sent to the lab for evaluation. If the lab reports that it is ‘clear’ or ‘healthy’, the surgeon knows he got all cancer.
Care and Treatment for Post Breast Cancer Surgical procedure
Hormone remedy is one of the post-surgery options you have. When the cancerous growth is decided to be sensitive to estrogen, this is the common treatment. The higher the tumors estrogen receptor level, the more benefits will come from hormone therapy.
One more option for post-surgery breast cancer treatment is chemotherapy. Depending on the size and how extreme the cancer is, this might be used before surgery to lower the size of the tumor.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy treatment is the most commonly used breast cancer treatment. This treatment uses drugs to ruin any cancer cells it finds. These are called anti-cancer drugs. Some chemotherapy drugs are given on their own, some are offered in combination chemotherapy doses. There are over 50 drugs used when offering chemotherapy treatments. The kind of treatment received depends on, again, how far the cancer has spread and where in your body it was first found.
When receiving chemotherapy, it is given in short doses, followed by periods of rest. Chemotherapy is very hard on your body and can make the patient very sick. Recovery periods are essential to the overall health of the patent. While the chemotherapy kills the cancer cells, it will leave the patient weak. Resting periods give non-cancerous cells the chance to recover.
While chemotherapy treatment and surgery are the key ways to treat breasts cancer, there are many treatments available. Research is always your best tool so you know your options when it comes to treatments and surgery. Cancer treatments are getting more successful all the time.
