When a doctor diagnoses a person with breast cancer, they respond in a variety of ways. Concentration and going forward with treatment decisions can be challenging. Some people find it beneficial to have someone they can trust to help them work through their many emotions. Additionally, to find details about treatment options and other services.
Treatment choices differ depending on the type of cancer and the patient’s circumstances. Patients with breast cancer often seek multiple therapies. For diagnosis as well as treatment of breast cancer, patients can refer to Thomson Breast Centre for expert health care providers.
Many factors affect the treatment you and your health care team choose, including:
- Cancer’s progression
- Your willingness to obtain radiation and your capacity to do so
- Overall well-being
- Lab studies, tumor markers, and tumor genomic test findings
- Your age as well as the size of the breasts
- Your menstrual cycle/menopause phase
Surgery
Breast cancer patients today have the choice of choosing between breast-conserving surgery and mastectomy.
Breast-Conserving Surgery
A surgeon removes the tumor. As well as a small amount of normal breast tissue surrounding the tumor, and several lymph nodes in the armpit during breast-conserving surgery. But not the breast itself. As a result, a shift in the shape of the breast or numbness in a portion of the breast is likely. Infection, slow wound healing, bleeding, and a reaction to the anesthetic drugs are all possibilities.
Mastectomy
Mastectomy is the surgical removal of the breast. Total mastectomy, skin-sparing mastectomy, and adapted radical mastectomy are the three types of mastectomy. Doctors recommend mastectomy for one of the following reasons:
- There are many cancerous areas in your breast
- The tumor is more than 5 cm in diameter (2 inches)
- Your breast is tiny. Or in a shape that removing cancer completely will leave you with little breast tissue or a deformed breast
- Radiation therapy is something you don’t like or can’t get (sometimes radiation is necessary, even if you have a mastectomy)
Following a mastectomy, inflammation, slow wound healing, and a reaction to anesthesia. As well as a collection of fluid or blood under the skin are all potential complications. Mastectomy is a complex surgical procedure, requesting an appointment at Thomson Breast Centre for effective treatment.
Systematic Treatments
Systemic therapies target cancer cells in the body. They affect all of your cells, not just the cancer cells in your breast. Before (neoadjuvant therapy) or after (adjuvant therapy) surgery or radiation, systemic treatment may be used. Chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and targeted therapy are examples of systematic treatment.
Chemotherapy
As most of us know, chemotherapy uses anticancer drugs to stop cancer cells from spreading. Doctors may use it to shrink tumors before surgery. Or they may use it after surgery to minimize the risk of relapse. As part of a comprehensive cancer treatment plan. Vomiting and nausea are common side effects, as are hair loss, a loss of appetite, and numb toes or fingers.
Hormone Therapy
Some breast cancers are vulnerable to the hormones estrogen and progesterone, which a woman’s body produces naturally. Hormone therapy prevents cancer cells from obtaining the hormones they need to survive. This therapy employs medications that reduce hormone levels in the body. Nausea, fatigue, vaginal discharge, hot flashes, changes in the menstrual cycle are common side effects.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy is one of the most popular breast cancer treatment choices. It uses high-energy X-rays to destroy residual cancer cells following surgery to remove tumors. However, side effects such as sore breasts, redness, darkening, or thickening of the skin are likely. Patients diagnosed with breast cancer can have effective treatment at Thomson Breast Centre.
Conclusion
Today, various effective treatment options are available for patients. With the help of a healthcare provider, patients can choose what’s best for them. However, they must go for a treatment whose benefits outweigh its side effects.