Breast cancer is the second most diagnosed type of cancer in women, after skin cancer. Men also get breast cancer, but in much smaller numbers. A number of options are taken into consideration before a doctor determines the right breast cancer treatment method for his patient. These include the patient's personal preference and current health condition, along with the type and severity of the cancer.
Surgery
A number of surgeries are available as treatment options for breast cancer patients, some of which involve removing only the cancerous tissue, while others involve complete breast removal.
Doctors perform lumpectomies on patients with small tumors, allowing them to save the breast and remove only the tumor and a small area of healthy tissue around it--this helps prevent the cancer from spreading.
Mastectomies involve complete removal of the breast tissue. BreastCancer.org explains that in most cases, this procedure no longer requires the removal of the muscles under the breast. Some patients however, have the breast muscles taken.
During either a lumpectomy or mastectomy, the doctor may remove one lymph node to perform a biopsy, as the lymph nodes can transport cancerous cells through the body. Should one lymph node contain cancerous cells, the doctor usually opts to remove the remaining lymph nodes, a procedure known as axillary lymph node dissection.
Radiation Therapy
Doctors often use radiation therapy in conjunction with surgery, such as a lumpectomy or mastectomy, to reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence. Various types of radiation exist, one of which is external beam radiation. During this procedure, high-powered beams of energy are delivered via a machine the doctor aims specifically at the site of the cancer.
Another type of radiation therapy, known as brachytherapy, involves the placement of radioactive material inside the patient's body at the site of cancer. While external radiation provides localized treatment, brachytherapy allows more accurate treatment as the radioactive seeds are strategically placed as close to the site of the cancer as possible. This type of radiation is more powerful and allows for a shorter treatment time versus external radiation.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is also known as systemic therapy because the drugs travel through a patient's bloodstream to reach and destroy the cancerous cells. The drugs may be administered in a variety of forms, which include oral tablets, creams and via the veins.
The Mayo Clinic explains that doctors sometimes prescribe chemotherapy after surgery to prevent the chance of the cancer from returning, while others prescribe it prior to surgery to help shrink a tumor, making surgery easier to perform. Depending on the severity of the cancer, chemotherapy can be given in combination with both surgery and radiation therapy.
