FACING BREAST CANCER
Diagnosed with breast cancer
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The doctors use your biopsy to conduct tests as well as understand different important characteristics of your condition.
Once you find out the type of cancer, you will need to know the extent to which it has spread, or at what stage of cancer you are in. This information helps the doctors understand how serious cancer is and the various treatment approaches that would be required to treat it.
You have a say in the treatment plan that will be used to treat your cancer. Ask the doctors several questions to help choose a plan of your preference.
Going through treatment
Receiving Treatment for Breast Cancer
Once you have been diagnosed with breast cancer, you and your doctor will work with a team of medical professionals from the field of oncology to help plan your treatment. You will be given an array of choices based on the type of cancer you have and how far it has spread. Each option will be presented with its own set of risks, side effects and benefits.
You can take the help of your doctor, and weigh each benefit and risk and choose an appropriate treatment plan. It is important to ask your doctor as many questions as possible, especially if you are not sure about anything. The main goal is to keep yourself informed through every step of the treatment from being diagnosed until after you have finished treatment.
Common treatment approaches of breast cancer include;
Treatment of Breast Cancer by Stage: Breast cancer is divided into stages based on the extent of its spread. The higher the stage of breast cancer, the more extensive is the treatment. But there are other factors that come into play, such as characteristics of the cancer cells, overall health and personal preferences, age, rate of growth of cancer, etc.
Treatment of Triple-negative Breast Cancer: A triple-negative breast cancer has limited treatment options as the cancer cells do not have any hormone receptors or do not make certain proteins; making hormone or targeted therapy impossible. Chemotherapy is the most preferred treatment option, but there could be a recurrence.
Treatment of Inflammatory Breast Cancer: Inflammatory breast cancer cells affect the lymph vessels in the skin, causing the skin around the breast to become inflamed and look thick and pitted. This type of cancer grows more quickly, which makes it harder to treat.
Treating Breast Cancer During Pregnancy: A lot has to be thought about when treating someone who has been diagnosed during pregnancy. The doctor is not just providing the best treatment for the patient but has to look out for the baby’s health. This treatment approach will also require the opinion of your obstetrician.
Classification of Breast Cancer Treatment
Treatment of Breast cancer can be classified into two types: Local Treatment and Systemic Treatment
Local Treatment
Local treatments refer to cancer treatments that are confined to the part of the body that contains the tumor and does not affect the rest of the body. Most Local treatment of breast cancer removes cancer from the breast, chest wall and lymph nodes in the underarm area while ensuring that cancer does not relapse. Local therapy mainly involves surgery, which can sometimes be coupled with radiation therapy.
Systemic treatment
Systemic treatment involves getting rid of cancer cells in any part of the body by administering drugs throughout the body. This type of treatment is not confined to just one area but involves the entire body.
These drugs are administered orally or through the bloodstream. The type of drug treatment administered varies from person to person based on the type of cancer, the stage at which it is in, patient’s choice and many other factors.
Common systemic therapies include;
Chemotherapy: This involves administering the patient with drugs that kill any fast-growing cells, which are mainly the cancer cells.
Hormone Therapy: This form of therapy involves preventing cancer cells from attaching to hormones that help them grow.
Targeted Therapy: Recent research has shown that there are certain changes a cell goes through that lead to cancer. Targeted therapy involves administering drugs that target these changes.
Immunotherapy: This involves administering drugs that stimulate the patient’s own immune system to recognise and kill the cancer cells
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