Types of Breast Cancer Treatment, generally known as therapies, are the standard of therapy for breast cancer in its early and locally advanced stages. Standard of care relates to the best-known treatment. When choosing a course of treatment, you are advised to discuss clinical trials with your physician. A clinical trial is a research study that evaluates a novel therapeutic technique. Through clinical trials, physicians determine whether the best treatment is safe, effective, and possibly better than the standard treatment.
In cancer care, doctors specializing in diverse areas of breast cancer treatment, such as surgery, radiation oncology, and medical oncology, work with radiologists and pathologists to decide treatment plans for a patient. Treatment plans are determined by the biology and activity of breast cancer. Other tumors are larger and grow more slowly. Treatment options and advice are very customized and depend on a number of types, such as:
A subtype of the tumor, including hormone receptor status (ER, PR), HER2 status, and lymph node status (see Introduction)
The Stage of The Tumor
If necessary, genomic tests, such as the multigene panels Oncotype DXTM or MammaPrintTM. The patient’s age, general health, menopausal state, and preferences are taken into consideration. The findings of genetic tests indicate the existence of known mutations in genetic breast cancer genes such as BRCA1 or BRCA2.
For both ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and early-stage invasive breast cancer, surgical resection of the tumor is typically required. To ensure complete surgical resection, the surgeon will also remove a small margin of healthy tissue surrounding the tumor.
Although the goal of surgery is to remove all visible breast cancer, microscopic cancer cells may survive. In some cases, this may necessitate a second operation to remove any remaining cancer cells. There are types of techniques for checking for tiny cells that will ensure a clean margin.
It is also possible for tiny cells to exist outside the breast, which is why systemic treatment with medicine is frequently suggested following surgery. Before surgery, doctors may offer neoadjuvant therapy, which consists of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and/or hormone therapy for larger or more rapidly-growing cancer.
What are Breast Cancer Treatment Types and Therapy?
1. Surgery
During an operation, the tumor and some surrounding healthy tissue are removed surgically. Under the arm, the nearby axillary lymph nodes are also checked surgically. A surgical oncologist is a doctor who specializes in the surgical treatment of cancer. Know the basics of cancer surgery.
There may be several advantages to receiving medication before Surgery:
- Due to the tumor’s tiny stature, surgery may be easier to conduct.
- Your doctor may verify if certain cancer treatments are helpful.
- Through a clinical study, you may have access to a potential treatment.
- The medication therapy that circulates throughout the body will accelerate the treatment of any microscopic, distant ailment.
- Those who might have required a mastectomy may be possibilities for breast-conserving surgery (lumpectomy) if the tumor decreases sufficiently prior to surgery.
After surgery, the next step in the treatment of early-stage breast cancer is to reduce the chance of recurrence and eliminate any leftover cancer cells. As these cancer cells can multiply over time, they are believed to be responsible for a cancer recurrence despite being undetectable by existing testing. After-surgery treatment is known as “adjuvant treatment.” Radiation therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and/or hormone therapy may be used as adjuvant therapies.
Common breast cancer treatments for early-stage and locally advanced diseases are described here. Important components of cancer care, your plan of care also includes treatment for symptoms and side effects.
2. Radiation Therapy
Using high-energy X-rays or other particles, radiation treatment removes cancer cells. A radiation oncologist is in using radiation therapy to treat cancer.
There are Many Types of Radiation Therapy
External-beam radiation therapy
This is the most used type of radiation therapy and is performed via an outside machine. This includes full breast radiation therapy, partial breast radiation therapy, and accelerated breast radiation therapy, which can be performed in a matter of days as compared to weeks. Radiation therapy during surgery. This is when radiation therapy is administered in the operating room using a probe.
Brachytherapy
This form of radiation therapy is given by injecting radioactive sources directly into the tumor. Despite positive study outcomes, intra-operative radiation treatment and brachytherapy are not often used. A patient with a tiny tumor that has not spread to the lymph nodes may be suitable for these treatments, if available.
Partial breast radiation therapy
Partial breast irradiation (PBI) is a form of radiation therapy in which the tumor site is irradiated instead of the entire breast. It is more prevalent following a lumpectomy. Targeting radiation directly to the tumor area usually shortens the period of radiation therapy for patients.
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy
To better target the tumors, the strength of the radiation delivered at the breast is changed, resulting in a more equal radiation distribution throughout the breast.
Proton therapy
Standard radiation therapy for breast cancer kills cancer cells with x-rays, commonly known as photon therapy. Proton treatment is a form of external-beam radiation therapy that use protons as compared to x-rays. Protons with a high energy level can damage cancer cells.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the use of medications to eradicate cancer cells, typically by preventing their growth, division, and reproduction. It may be administered before to surgery in order to shrink a large tumor, facilitate surgery, and/or lower the chance of recurrence. When administered before surgery, chemotherapy is known as neoadjuvant therapy. Adjuvant chemotherapy may also be used after surgery to lower the chance of recurrence.
Hormonal Therapy
Hormonal therapy, commonly known as endocrine therapy, is a successful breast cancer treatment for the majority of cancers with estrogen or progesterone receptor positivity (called ER positive or PR positive; see Introduction). This kind of tumor depends on hormones for growth. Blocking hormones can help reduce breast cancer growth and death when hormonal therapy is used alone or in combination with chemotherapy.
Treatment for Stage 1 Breast Cancer
The primary breast cancer treatment for stage I breast cancer is surgery. These cancers may also be treated by breast-conserving surgery (also known as lumpectomy or partial mastectomy) or mastectomy. A sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) or an axillary lymph node dissection will also be required to look at the lymph nodes in the area (ALND).
Some women can have breast reconstruction along with cancer reduction surgery. However, if you will require radiation therapy after surgery, it is better to delay reconstruction until the radiation treatment is complete.
- If BCS is performed, radiation therapy is generally given after surgery to decrease the risk of breast cancer recurrence and to help patients live longer.
- In a second group, women at least 65 years old who meet ALL of the following criteria may pursue BCS without radiation therapy.
- The tumor was less than 3 cm (about 1 inch) in size and was totally excised.
- None of the excised lymph nodes contained cancer.
- Since the malignancy is ER- or PR-positive, hormone therapy will be given.
- Radiation therapy provides to women with these features reduces the risk of developing cancer, but there is no indication that it extends their lifespan.
Less likely to require radiation therapy after a mastectomy, however, it may be performed based on the specifics of your malignancy. Talk to your doctor about the need for radiation therapy. You may be treated by a radiation oncologist, a doctor who expert in radiation.
