Traditional Breast Cancer Treatments

Pretty much the same day after my wife was diagnosed we started exploring Breast Cancer Treatment Options, even though we didn’t really know yet anything specific about her cancer. I could sense right from the start that Ann wasn’t really comfortable about the idea of potentially receiving chemotherapy and radiation. She therefore investigated into alternative breast cancer treatment options and things she could start with right away. But nonetheless she kept herself open minded, which I believe is the most important thing when faced with cancer. Get all the information you need and then make an educated decision your comfortable with. You can read up all the details in Our Breast Cancer Story. There are thousands of websites out there where you can get detailed and scientific information about Traditional Breast Cancer Treatment options – in the following, I will provide you with my personal explanations of either treatment, which of course will be very plain language:

 

Surgery:

 

There are basically two different kinds of surgeries available. If the tumor is not too big already, a removal of the mass with a few millimeters of surrounding tissue can be sufficient enough and therefore the breast will be conserved. This procedure is called a lumpectomy. The other option is a mastectomy; this means the entire breast will be removed, followed by a surgical reconstruction. As to whether or not a lumpectomy is chosen over a mastectomy – or vice versa – strongly depends on a variety of factors, such as size of the tumor, size of the breast, personal preference among many others. Some women feel more comfortable to have the entire breast removed in order to reduce the risk of recurrence. However, a lot of studies suggest that there is actually no evidence that a mastectomy comes with a lesser risk of recurrence than just a lumpectomy. I’m under the impression that a surgeon would typically suggest a lumpectomy unless a mastectomy is absolutely necessary. But ultimately, of course, that’s up to the breast cancer patient.

 

Radiation:

 

Radiation is a part of the traditional standard treatment protocol in order to destroy any remaining cancer cells in the tissue after surgery.

I think science and medicine has come a long way. Rather than exposing the entire chest to the radioactive beams as it was done formerly, with today’s devices the radiation can be exactly targeted to the relevant area in and around the surgery site.

 

Chemotherapy:

 

Chemotherapy is the general term for any treatment involving the use of chemical agents to stop cancer cells from growing. Chemotherapy can eliminate cancer cells at sites great distances from the original cancer. It is therefore what medicine calls it a systemic treatment. There are many different Chemotherapy protocols available, involving all kinds of different cycles and schedules, based on the type of cancer being treated. For example, a chemotherapy protocol for mesothelioma looks different than for breast cancer.