Breast cancer is diagnosed in 192,000 women and 2,000 men annually in the United States, according to the National Cancer Institute. The decision for breast cancer treatment is a collaborative effort between the doctor and the patient, with the stage to which the breast cancer has advanced being a very important factor. Other factors include whether or not the patient has gone through menopause, tumor size, lab tests for hormone receptors and the patient's overall health.
Surgery
In this treatment option, Merck Manuals, an online medical library, reports that the cancerous tumor and a certain amount of surrounding tissue (depending on the type of cancer) is removed surgically. A mastectomy is breast cancer surgery where the surgeon removes all the breast tissue. In a simple mastectomy, the surgeon does not remove muscle underneath the breast; in a modified radical mastectomy, the surgeon removes all the breast tissue and some of the lymph nodes in the armpit but still does not remove the muscle underneath the breast. Much less common these days is a radical mastectomy, which involves removal of all breast tissue, all the lymph nodes in the armpit and the muscle underneath the breast.
If the tumor has not become widespread throughout the breast, breast-conserving surgery is an option. A lumpectomy removes the tumor and a very small amount of normal tissue surrounding the tumor. A partial mastectomy (also called "wide excision") involves removing the tumor and a larger portion of normal tissue surrounding the tumor. The third type of breast-conserving surgery is a quadrantectomy, which is the removal of a quarter of the breast tissue. Breast-conserving surgery is generally also done in conjunction with radiation therapy to ensure complete removal of the cancerous cells.
Radiation Therapy
The Mayo Clinic describes radiation therapy as "the use of high-powered beams of energy, such as X-rays, to kill cancer cells." Usually, a large machine aims the beams of energy at the body. The radiation beam can cause a rash that looks like a sunburn where the energy beam was aimed. Radiation therapy can also involve placing radioactive material inside the body.
Chemotherapy
The National Cancer Institute reports that chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill the cancer cells. The strategy is to kill as many cancer cells as possible, without killing as many normal cells. However, this is often not possible, resulting in multiple side effects. Most commonly, chemotherapy drugs kill the cells in the hair follicles, causing hair loss; also affected are the cells that line the digestive tract, which can cause nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite. Blood cells are also killed with chemotherapy, causing fatigue, bruising and an increased susceptibility to infection.
Targeted Therapy
Some types of breast cancer are treatable with drugs that target the cancer cells directly. For example, some breast cancer cells have high levels of an abnormal protein, called HER2, on the surface; this protein helps the breast cancer grow rapidly. There are now certain drugs that specifically target cells that have HER2 on the surface, such as trastuzumab and lapatinib.
