Breast Cancer Treatment Options Different Types of Treatments
Breast cancer treatment options include standard types and clinical trials. Types of treatments for breast cancer are decided upon by your doctor based on the type and stage of your tumor. Also, many patients have discovered complementary therapy as effective treatment options in managing symptoms, in lessening the negative side effects of the standard treatments and in preventing the disease from coming back.
What are the standard types of breast cancer treatments?
Lumpectomy is one of the recommended treatment options for early stage tumor and involves removal of cancerous lump and a tiny portion of healthy tissues surrounding it.
Partial mastectomy is one of the surgical treatment options that involves removal of your breast part where the cancerous lump is found and a small portion of healthy tissues surrounding the malignant part.
Total or simple mastectomy involves removal of the entire breast with the malignant tumor and lymph nodes under your arm.
Modified radical mastectomy involves removal of the entire breast, lymph nodes under your arm, the lining that covers chest muscles and even a part of the chest wall muscles.
Radical mastectomy involves removal of the entire breast, the chest wall muscles under your breast and all the lymph nodes under your arm.
If your doctor prescribes surgery, he or she will usually recommend another type of treatment among these 2 breast cancer treatment options - radiation and chemotherapy treatments - after you have recovered from surgery.
Radiation and chemo are treatment options to ensure that any cancerous cells left after surgery are killed and to decrease the risk of the disease to recur.
Radiation treatment
Radiation is one of the treatment options that is necessary after surgery because it prevents the tumor from recurring by about 70%. In fact, if you are treated with radiation after lumpectomy, you are likely to live longer and remain free from the disease far longer than those who only chose surgery without radiation.
Chemotherapy
can either be adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemo. It is administered using 2 to 3 types of chemo drugs simultaneously which is called chemo regimens.
It is one of the types of treatment options recommended for:
early stage invasive breast cancer after surgery
advanced or metastatic tumor to weaken cancerous cells in the breasts and in other organs they have spread into, and
bigger tumors before surgery to shrink them.
Hormone treatments
It involves the use of different types of treatments such as surgery, radiation or drugs to remove, to block, or to stop production of estrogen.
Ovarian ablation is one of the hormone treatment options that can prevent your ovaries from producing estrogen. Estrogen is one of the causes of breast cancer as it stimulates cells in your breasts to grow rapidly.
Aromatase inhibitor is prescribed if you’re post menopausal and your tumor’s growth is dependent on estrogen. This type of hormone treatment decreases estrogen by blocking the aromastase enzyme from turning androgen into estrogen.
Targeted treatment
It involves use of medicines and other substances to target and kill cancerous cells without damaging the healthy ones.
The 2 types of targeted breast cancer treatment options are:
Monoclonal antibodies
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors
Both these treatments work by blocking the HER2 growth factor and protein inside the cancerous cells.
Complementary therapy
It is a treatment implemented in addition to or together with standard types of treatments. It is based on how cancer is believed to have an effect on your whole being and how it is also caused by your emotions.
It is proven to be a safe and effective treatment but it is not intended to replace standard treatments. It involves different treatments such as:
