Therapy for breast cancer

Every person in the world knows that there are various types of cancer. Breast cancer is one of the most common cancer types among women and only skin cancer is more common among women. This type of cancer is cancer that forms in the cells of the breasts. Among all the cancer types, the one that starts in the milk ducts is the most common. People need to know that men can also develop breast cancer but these cases are quite rare. The diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer has improved a lot due to the public support for breast cancer awareness and research funding. Because of this, there are less fatal outcomes in this cancer type cases now than there were some years ago. Some of the factors that have influenced this are early detection, better treatments and getting to know the disease.

There is no one treatment plan that is best for everyone. The doctor will determine the best treatment after he or she has found out the type of breast cancer, stage, the patient’s overall health, whether the cells are sensitive to hormones and the patient’s preferences. Most commonly followed therapy is breast cancer surgery. Chemotherapy, hormone therapy and radiation are considered to be additional treatment options.

Breast cancer surgery

People need to know that there is no one type of surgery that will get rid of the cancer cells inside the breast. There are several surgical procedures. Some of these operations which are used to treat breast cancer are removing the breast cancer or lumpectomy, removing the entire breast or mastectomy, removing the lymph node or sentinel node biopsy and removing several lymph nodes or axillary lymph node dissection. People should know that lumpectomy is used in cases where the tumor is still small. On the other hand, axillary lymph node dissection is performed when the tumor is a large one and has been felt on a physical exam.

Radiation therapy

This type of treatment uses strong beams of energy, like X-rays, in order to destroy the cancer cells. Radiation therapy is mainly used after lumpectomy in the early stages of cancer. People should know that there are some side effects caused by this treatment.

Chemotherapy

This type of treatment uses drugs to kill the cancer cells. Chemotherapy is mainly recommended when there is a chance that the cancer will recur.

Apart from these treatment options, there is also hormone therapy which is used when the breast cancers are sensitive to hormones.