Breast Cancer Treatment

Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer Screening
Breast Cancer Symptoms
Breast Cancer Stages
Breast Cancer Treatment

Cancer Types
Breast Cancer
Colon Cancer
Ovarian Cancer
Prostate Cancer

Available breast cancer treatments include the following:

Surgery: The goal of the surgery is to remove as much of the tumor from the body as possible. There are two main types of surgeries for breast cancer: lumpectomy, where parts of the breast are conserved, and mastectomy, where the entire breast is removed. Radiation therapy is sometimes given after surgery.

Hormone: Many breast cancer cells need female hormone such as estrogen and progesterone to grow. The theory behind hormone treatment is that if the cancer needs hormone to grow, then we can stop the growth of these malignant cells by either cut off the source of the hormone (taking inhibitors to reduce the amount of hormone produced or remove the ovaries to stop hormone production altogether), or block the hormone receptor on the cancer cells, or destroy the hormone receptor on the cancer cells.

Chemotherapy: In chemotherapy, a drug or a combination of drugs that poison cells is given to the patient, most often via intravenous injection. Once inside the body, the drug travels around the body and kills the rapidly-dividing cancer cells. Because the drug also kills other normal rapidly-dividing healthy cells, there can be adverse side effects.

Radiation treatment: Radiation treatments use high-energy rays to kill cancer cells. Because it is very difficult to pinpoint the radiation only to the cancer cells, usually the surrounding healthy cells will be affected as well.

Radiation treatment comes in two types: external and internal. In external radiation treatment, a laser is used, usually with the assistance of computer, to point to the cancer cells. In internal radiation treatment (called brachytherapy) , tiny seeds containing radioactive material are injected directly into or near the cancer and left there. In time, the material loses its radioactivity and the seeds do not need to be taken out.

Targeted therapies: Because some breast cancer cases are caused by certain gene mutations, it is possible to use this knowledge to combat breast cancer. Targeted therapies aim to contain/eliminate the tumor by targeting certain characteristics of the cancer cells. This type of treatment does not harm normal, healthy cells. Targeted therapies behave in a similar way to the antibodies produced by body's immune system. Current treatments include Herceptin, Tykerb, and Avastin.