The Mayo Clinic says breast cancer is the most common female cancer in the United States. Breast cancers refers to an abnormal clump of fast-growing cells. These cells form breast tumors and can spread to other organs in your body. A breast lump, bloody nipple discharge, nipple skin changes and alterations in your breast shape and size are a few manifestations that indicate breast cancer. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and hormone or target therapy are specific treatments to manage breast cancer.
Lumpectomy and Mastectomy
Surgery is the typical way in which to remove the breast cancer cells. The National Cancer Institute says a lumpectomy can be performed to remove only the tumor and some of the surrounding tissues. A partial mastectomy, also known as a segmental mastectomy, involves removing a larger part of the breast and some surrounding tissues. Sometimes, your surgeon may also decide to remove a few of your lymph nodes, blood vessel-like structures that carry your white blood cells (fights infection). A pathologist will look at your lymph nodes under a microscope to see if they contain any cancer cells. The presence of cancer cells may indicate that the breast cancer has spread, or metastasized, to a few or all the organs in your body.
A total mastectomy refers to removing the entire affected breast and the lymph nodes underneath your arm. A modified radical mastectomy also involves excising the affected breast and a few lymph nodes underneath your arm and in your chest muscles. A radical mastectomy refers to the removal of the cancerous breast, all the lymph nodes under your arm and in your chest wall muscles.
Chemotherapy and Radiation
The Mayo Clinic says chemotherapy and radiation are effective ways in which to curb breast cancer cell growth. Chemotherapy involves utilizing certain drugs to destroy the cancer cells. Your doctor determines which medications are best for your particular breast cancer. He also determines the duration of treatment based upon the stage of your breast cancer. Unfortunately, these drugs can have harmful side effects. Chemotherapy can cause hair loss (alopecia), nausea, vomiting, night sweats and stomach pain. Chemotherapy is typically given before surgery to shrink the tumor. When this occurs, chemotherapy is known as neoadjuvant treatment.
Radiation, like chemotherapy, involves the destruction of cancer cells. However, a high beam of energy is focused onto the breast tumor to destroy it. Radiation can be external or internal. In external radiation, a large machine focuses beams of energy into your breast. Internal radiation involves surgically implanting radioactive structures such as pellets into your breast, so that you get a continuous dose of radiation to kill breast cancer cells. Its side effects include fatigue, a rash, arm swelling and rib problems.
Hormone and Target Therapy
The National Cancer Institute says hormone and targeted therapy are other treatment options for breast cancer. Hormone treatments involve taking such medications as tamoxifen to interfere with breast cancer cell growth. The Mayo Clinic says targeted drugs such as lapatinib, bevazicizumab and trastuzamib can be used to stop cancer cell growth or prevent the growth of new blood vessels that nourish breast cancer cells.
