Often, the first meeting with a breast surgeon is discussing implications and treatments.
Breast Cancer Treatment
After a breast cancer diagnosis, there are many decisions to make. A multidisciplinary team of doctors and specialists can help get a treatment plan started and you can choose a treatment facility. In the past, breast cancer treatment involved a radical mastectomy, but today procedures are less invasive. Treatment will depend on the stage of breast cancer. It may include surgery, such as lumpectomy, radiation or chemotherapy to shrink and kill cancer cells. Learn more about breast cancer treatment options with expert advice from Sharecare.
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StoneSprings Hospital Center answeredSee All 2 AnswersA breast surgeon is frequently the first contact that someone may have after finding a lump or in breast imaging.
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Reston Hospital Center answeredSee All 2 AnswersOncology nurse navigators help patients throughout their treatment and recovery.
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Patients generally feel better within two weeks; full recovery takes about four to eight weeks depending on the type of surgery performed. If a patient has had a simple mastectomy with no reconstruction, once they have healed their surgical wounds they are given a prescription for a prosthesis to wear in their bra that gives the appearance of a breast. Patients may require continuing treatment with radiation, chemotherapy or hormonal therapy. Many women find it very difficult after surgery to deal with the loss of a breast. Patients are encouraged to join a support group of other women who have had mastectomies and/or pursue one-on-one counseling with a qualified therapist.
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The steps of a mastectomy depend on what type of mastectomy is chosen, as well as whether a reconstruction is performed. If there is no reconstruction, the operation is approximately 2 hours. The patient is administered general anesthesia and n a skin incision is made to include an ellipse of skin as well as the nipple and areola. The incision may extend out to the armpit. The breast tissue is removed, from the clavicle down to the inframammary crease of the breast. A sentinel lymph node biopsy is usually done at the time of surgery as well. One or two drainage tubes are inserted into the area where the breast tissue and lymph nodes were removed. If there is no reconstruction, the incision is closed horizontally with sutures.
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HCA Virginia answeredSee All 2 AnswersMany years ago, radiation for breast cancer was only used for large tumors that were considered inoperable. Now it is a part of the local therapy in lumpectomy cases. Radiation can be administered to the entire breast or just to the area where the tumor existed (where the risk of recurrence is highest). Each method has advantages and disadvantages, but both seem equally effective.
Overall, though, the biggest change in radiation is the increased precision with which it is delivered, thereby minimizing damage to adjacent normal tissues.
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Ogden Regional Medical Center answeredBrachytherapy treatments for breast cancer are given twice a day. This usually involves 10 treatments, so therapy is completed in about five days. Most women find this type of radiation treatment interesting because of how quickly it can be completed.
In terms of the overall treatment of breast cancer, there is an additional benefit to this. In the past, typical radiation treatments required about six weeks, so we had to make difficult decisions about when to give chemotherapy and when to give radiation therapy. Delaying either one of those can have consequences. We typically gave the chemotherapy first in women who needed it, and delayed the radiation therapy until the chemotherapy was completed. That often resulted in an increased risk of the cancer coming back at its original site. But we determined that wasn’t as important as reducing disease risk in the rest of the body by giving chemotherapy.
When we use brachytherapy though, we do it immediately after the lumpectomy and we don’t delay chemotherapy. There are no longer any questions about how to time these treatments and which to do first. Since the brachytherapy is finished in a week, it doesn't complicate the timing of chemotherapy at all.
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HealthyWomen answeredAbout 25 to 30 percent of women with breast cancer have an excess of a protein called HER2, which makes tumors grow quickly. Two genetically engineered drugs, trastuzumab (Herceptin) and lapatinib (Tykerb), bind to HER2 to help fight cancer cells. Trastuzumab was initially approved for treatment of metastatic breast cancer, but it has since been approved for adjuvant therapy (meaning it can be used in addition to other types of therapy, such as surgical excision or radiation) of early breast cancer. The more recently approved lapatinib is used in combination with another cancer drug called capectabine (Xeloda).
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Dr. Robert A. Wascher, MD , Surgery, answered on behalf of Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA)See All 4 AnswersFor most patients with metastatic breast cancer, chemotherapy and/or sex hormone-blocking medications are routinely used. Additionally, medications that strengthen bones may be used in patients with metastatic disease in the bones. In patients who are at risk of developing bone fractures or nerve compression from metastatic tumors in the bone, radiation therapy may also be helpful.
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Lourdes Health System answeredThe most commonly known radiaton therapy is traditional external beam radiation, which delivers a specific dose to the breast to treat the cancer.
Breast cancer can also be treated with implanted radiation, also known high dose rate brachytherapy. This is when a device is put into the breast to deliver a high dose of radiation twice a day.
Some patients that have had a mastectomy (breast removal) often don't need further treatment. But if the tumor is found to be large in size during the mastectomy, or if the patient had a lot of lymph nodes, they will have postoperative radiation that treats the chest wall and the draining nodule regions.
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