Surgery is the
most common treatment for breast cancer. Women with cancer may have either a lumpectomy,
which is removal of the tumor and a narrow margin of cells around it, or mastectomy, which
is removal of nearly all breast tissue.
Many women with early stage breast cancer may have a
lumpectomy. Studies have indicated that survival rates for lumpectomy with radiation
therapy are as effective as mastectomy in treating early stage breast cancer. In most
cases, reconstruction of the breast is not necessary when a patient has a lumpectomy.
Sometimes a lumpectomy is not enough. For example, a woman
may have excessive amounts of pre-cancer tissue (called DCIS or LCIS) in the breast, or
the tumor may be large in relation to breast tissue. In these cases, the woman may have a
mastectomy.
Unless the cancer is caught extremely early, underarm lymph
nodes are usually removed during surgery to help identify whether the cancer has spread to
other parts of the body.
Radiation therapy
uses "x-rays" to damage cancer cells and prevent them from spreading to other
locations in the body. The radiation is usually administered daily over a period of a few
weeks. Many breast cancer patients have radiation treatments following a lumpectomy.
Chemotherapy
involves using a combination of drugs to kill cancer cells that may have spread to other
places in the body. The drugs are usually administered through an IV at the medical
facility. Medical science has developed a series of anti-nausea drugs that help eliminate
some of chemotherapy's legendary side effects.
Hormone therapy
blocks cancer cells from getting the hormones they need to grow. The most common hormone
medication for breast cancer is called Tamoxifen. It has also recently been identified as
an option for helping prevent breast cancer in women who are at a high risk of developing
the disease.
