ROTARACT CLUB OF UNILORIN DIGITAL AWARENESS ON _”BREAST CANCER”_ IN COLLABORATION WITH ROTARACT CLUB OF WORLD BANK, IMO STATE.
Day 3
TREATMENT OF BREAST CANCER
Typically, treatment plans are based on the type of breast cancer, its stage, and any special situations. Your treatment plan will depend on other factors as well, including your overall health and personal preferences.
Most women with breast cancer will have some type of surgery to remove the tumor. Depending on the type of breast cancer and how advanced it is, you might need other types of treatment as well, either before or after surgery, or sometimes both.
The biology and behavior of breast cancer affects the treatment plan. Some tumors are smaller but grow fast, while others are larger and grow slowly. Treatment options and recommendations are very personalized and depend on several factors, including:
📌The tumor’s subtype, including hormone receptor status (ER, PR) and HER2 status
📌The stage of the tumor
📌Genomic markers, such as Oncotype DX™ (if appropriate)
📌The patient’s age, general health, menopausal status, and preferences
📌The presence of known mutations in inherited breast cancer genes, such as BRCA1 or BRCA2
For both DCIS and early-stage invasive breast cancer, doctors generally recommend surgery to remove the tumor. To make sure that the entire tumor is removed, the surgeon will also remove a small area of healthy tissue around the tumor. Although the goal of surgery is to remove all of the visible cancer, microscopic cells can be left behind, either in the breast or elsewhere. In some situations, this means that another surgery could be needed to remove remaining cancer cells.
For larger cancers, or those that are growing more quickly, doctors may recommend systemic treatment with chemotherapy or hormonal therapy before surgery, called neoadjuvant therapy
After surgery, the next step in managing early-stage breast cancer is to lower the risk of recurrence and to get rid of any remaining cancer cells. These cancer cells are undetectable but are believed to be responsible for recurrences of cancer as they can grow over time. Treatment given after surgery is called adjuvant therapy. Although adjuvant therapy lowers the risk of recurrence, it does not completely get rid of the risk.
When surgery to remove the cancer is not possible, it is called inoperable. The doctor will then recommend treating the cancer in other ways.
For recurrent cancer, treatment options depend on how the cancer was first treated and the characteristics of the cancer mentioned above, such as ER, PR, and HER2.
The types of surgery include the following:
🔸Lumpectomy. This is the removal of the tumor and a small, cancer-free margin of healthy tissue around the tumor
🔸Mastectomy. This is the surgical removal of the entire breast.
Reconstructive (plastic) surgery
Women who have a mastectomy may want to consider breast reconstruction. This is surgery to re-create a breast using either tissue taken from another part of the body or synthetic implants. Reconstruction is usually performed by a plastic surgeon. A woman may be able to have reconstruction at the same time as the mastectomy, called immediate reconstruction. She may also have it at some point in the future, called delayed reconstruction.
🔹Lymph node evaluation: Sentinel lymph node biopsy and/or axillary lymph node dissection.
🔹Radiation therapy is the use of high-energy x-rays or other particles to destroy cancer cells.
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to destroy cancer cells, usually by ending the cancer cells’ ability to grow and divide.
Systemic therapy is treatment taken by mouth or through a vein that gets into the bloodstream to reach cancer cells wherever they may be in the body.
There are 3 general categories of systemic therapy used for early-stage and locally-advanced breast cancer: chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and targeted therapy
▪ Chemotherapy is prescribed by a medical oncologist, a doctor who specializes in treating cancer with medication.
▪Hormonal therapy, also called endocrine therapy, is an effective treatment for most tumors that test positive for either estrogen or progesterone receptors (called ER-positive or PR-positive; see Introduction). This type of tumor uses hormones to fuel its growth. Blocking the hormones can help prevent a cancer recurrence and death from breast cancer when used either by itself or after adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
▪Targeted therapy is a treatment that targets the cancer’s specific genes, proteins, or the tissue environment that contributes to cancer growth and survival. These treatments are very focused and work differently than chemotherapy. This type of treatment blocks the growth and spread of cancer cells while limiting damage to healthy cells.
Women are encouraged to talk with their doctors about which surgical option is right for them. Also, talk with your health care team about the possible side effects from the specific surgery you will have
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