Breast Cancer And Common Treatments

There are various factors that determine what course of treatment is given by doctors for a case of breast cancer. The primary considerations consist of but are not limited to the following:

The extent to which the cancer has grown and developed within the breast tissue, Whether the cancer has spread to other areas of the body,Whether the cancerous cells are sensitive to the hormone estrogen.

Once a full assessment has been made the treatment options can be explored, with the most common forms being surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and a combination of the above.

Surgical treatment for breast cancer

Surgery is nearly always the first line of treatment with regards to breast cancer. Small lumps can be removed with a lumpectomy whereas larger lumps will require what is called a quadrantectomy i.e. approximately ¼ of the breast tissue is removed. In severe or late stage cases a full mastectomy will need to be performed. This involves removing the entire breast and although harsh it is the best way to ensure the tumor is completely excised.

The majority of breast cancer surgeries effectively get rid of the cancerous tumour from the affected breast nevertheless complimentary therapies are also regularly used to assure any remaining cells are wiped out before they are able to multiply. For this reason a course of radiotherapy or chemotherapy is recommended following a successful surgery.

Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy is the most common form of secondary treatment following surgery. The majority of patients undergo radiotherapy regardless of how large their primary breast cancer tumor was, and so this form of treatment should always be expected. Treatment generally starts about a month after surgery and can last for around 6 weeks. The aim of radiotherapy is to kill any small clusters of breakaway cells that may be left following the surgery. With this in mind it is vital that the course is completed in its entirety.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy makes use of a number of cytotoxic drugs that are aimed at rapidly splitting cancerous tissues. A course of chemotherapy usually comes after surgery when the breast cancer cells have spread throughout the bloodstream to other areas of the body. The chemotherapy drugs are given in periods of 3-4 weeks over the course of four or six months, and their aim is to kill the groups of cancerous cells that had spread throughout the body prior to the main tumor was cut off.

Hormone therapy

Occasionally breast cancer tumors are sensitive to the hormone estrogen, and it is the presence of this hormone that causes the tumor to grow and develop. In these cases it is often possible to use specific drugs to block the effects that estrogen has on the cancerous cells, the result being that the tumor stops growing or even shrinks in size.

If a breast cancer tumor is found to be estrogen sensitive then surgery is rarely needed. The patient will be required to take the estrogen-blocking drugs long term however, and in some cases people elect to have surgery instead.

To sum up

Surgery is nearly always the primary form of treatment for breast cancer, unless the tumor is found to be estrogen sensitive. Following a successful surgery, radiotherapy is administered in patients that show no signs of the cancer elsewhere in the body. If however there are signs that the cancer has spread then chemotherapy will be used as a secondary treatment instead.