Treatment For Breast Cancer
Different types of treatment available for patients with breast cancer. Some treatments are standard (the currently used treatment), and some have been tested in clinical trials. A treatment clinical trial is a study to improve current treatments or obtain information on new therapies for patients with cancer. When clinical trials show that a new treatment is better than the standard treatment, the new treatment is the standard treatment. Patients may want to think about participating in a clinical trial. Some clinical trials are open only to patients who have not started treatment.
Surgery
Most patients with breast cancer surgery to remove breast cancer. Some lymph nodes under the arm are usually outside and looked under a microscope to see if they contain cancer cells.
Breast-sparing surgery, surgery to remove the tumor, but not the breast itself, includes the following:
Lumpectomy: surgery to remove a tumor (solution) and a small amount of surrounding healthy tissue.
Partial mastectomy: surgery for the breast cancer and some normal tissue around it. This procedure is also called a segmental mastectomy.
Patients treated with breast-conserving surgery may also be a number of lymph nodes under the arm are removed for biopsy. This procedure is called lymph node dissection. It can be done at the same time, such as breast-conserving surgery or after. Node dissection is performed through a separate incision.
Other forms of intervention are as follows:
Total mastectomy: surgery to remove the whole breast that has cancer. This procedure is called a simple mastectomy. Some lymph nodes under the arm can be removed for biopsy at the same time as the breast or after surgery. This is done through a separate incision.
Modified radical mastectomy: surgery to remove the whole breast that has cancer, many of the lymph nodes under the arm, the lining of the chest muscles and sometimes part of the muscles of the chest wall.
Radical mastectomy: surgery to remove the breast, chest wall muscles under the breast is, and all lymph nodes under the arm. This procedure is called a Halsted radical mastectomy.
Even if your doctor of all cancers that can be seen when the delete operation, some patients may be given radiation therapy, chemotherapy or hormonal therapy after surgery are cancer cells left to kill. Treatment given after surgery to reduce the risk that the cancer will return is called adjuvant therapy.
If a patient has a mastectomy to breast reconstruction (surgery to reconstruct the shape of the breast after a mastectomy) may be considered. Breast reconstruction can be done at the time of mastectomy or at a later date. Breast reconstruction can be made of its own (no breast patient), tissue or by using implants filled with saline or silicone gel. Before the decision to implant is made, patients can call the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Devices and Radiological Health 1-888-info-FDA (1-888-463-6332) or visit the FDA website for more information about breast implants.
Radiotherapy
Radiotherapy is a treatment for cancer that uses high-energy X-rays or other radiation to kill cancer cells or to continue to grow. There are two types of radiation therapy. External radiation therapy uses a machine outside the body to send radiation toward the cancer. Internal radiation therapy uses a radioactive substance sealed in needles, seeds, wires, or catheters that are placed directly into or near the cancer. The way the radiation therapy is given depends on the type and stage of tumor.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is a treatment for cancer drugs that block the growth of tumor cells used either to kill cells or prevent them from dividing. When chemotherapy is taken by mouth or injected into a vein or muscle, the drugs in the blood and can reach cancer cells throughout the body (systemic chemotherapy). When chemotherapy is placed directly into the spinal column, an organ or a body cavity such as the abdomen, it acts primarily to cancer cells in those areas (regional chemotherapy).The way the chemotherapy is given depends on the type and stage of tumor.
Hormone therapy
Hormone therapy is a cancer treatment that removes hormones or blocks their action and stops cancer cells from growing. Hormones are substances produced by glands in the body and circulated in the blood. Some hormones can cause certain cancers to grow. If the tests show that cancer cells have places where hormones can attach (receptors), drugs, surgery or radiation is used for the production of hormones to reduce or stop the work. The hormone estrogen, which some breast cancers grow mainly by the ovaries. Treatment to stop making estrogen the ovaries is called ovarian ablation.
Hormone therapy with tamoxifen is often administered to patients with early stage breast cancer and those with metastatic breast cancer (cancer that has spread to other parts of the body). Hormone therapy with tamoxifen or estrogens can act on cells throughout the body and can increase the risk of developing cancer of the endometrium. Tamoxifen women have a pelvic examination every year for signs of cancer. Any vaginal bleeding other than menstrual bleeding, must be reported to a doctor as soon as possible.
Hormonal treatment with an aromatize inhibitor is given to some postmenopausal women with hormone-dependent breast cancer. Hormone-dependent breast cancer needs the hormone estrogen to grow. Aromatize inhibitors reduce estrogen in the body by blocking the enzyme aromatize from turning androgen into estrogen.
For the treatment of early breast cancer, certain aromatize inhibitors may be used as adjuvant therapy instead of tamoxifen or after 2 or more years of tamoxifen. For the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, aromatize inhibitors have been tested in clinical trials to compare the hormonal therapy with tamoxifen.
Targeted Therapy
Targeted therapy is a form of therapy that uses drugs or other substances to identify and attack specific cancer cells without harming normal cells. Monoclonal antibodies and tyrosine kinas inhibitors are two types of targeted therapies studied in the treatment of breast cancer.
Monoclonal antibody therapy is a cancer treatment that uses antibodies in the laboratory from a single type of immune cells. These antibodies can identify substances on cancer cells or normal substances that may help cancer cells grow. The antibodies attach to the substances and kill tumor cells, their growth, or keep them spread block. Monoclonal antibodies are given by infusion. They may only be used for or drugs, toxins, or radioactive material directly to tumor cells. Monoclonal antibodies can be used in combination with chemotherapy as adjuvant therapy.
Trastuzumab (Herceptin) is a monoclonal antibody that blocks the effects of growth factor protein HER2, which sends growth signals to cells of breast cancer. Approximately one quarter of patients with breast cancer have tumors that can be treated with trastuzumab in combination with chemotherapy.
Tyrosine kinas inhibitors are targeted therapy drugs that block signals needed for tumors to grow. Tyrosine kinas inhibitors can be used in combination with other anticancer drugs as adjuvant therapy.
Lapatinib is a tyrosine kinas inhibitor that blocks the effects of the HER2 protein and other proteins in cancer cells. Can be used to treat patients with HER2 positive breast cancer that has progressed following treatment with trastuzumab