One of the most common cancer types in the current times is breast cancer. Even though it can occur in both men and women, women are more likely to fall prey. The growth of cancer cells in the breast tissues leads to this illness, and if not treated on time, it might prove fatal. But with the advancement in technology, there are now several ways to detect it early and start breast cancer treatment.
As a result, it has increased the survival rates to a great extent. Moreover, researchers are still working on finding ways to treat breast cancer and decrease the side effects of treatments.
However, people are still not very aware of the symptoms and the most common types of breast cancer treatment.
In this blog, you will get information about breast cancer detection and the most common treatments.
Detecting Breast Cancer
Every woman must pay attention to any unusual thing happening with the breast shape or size. Some of the common symptoms include:
- A lump or thick collection of tissues in the breasts.
- Change in the shape of the breasts, seeing the skin dimpling down.
- Peeling or flaking of the skin around the areola accompanied by redness or itching.
- A new nipple like mole forming anywhere on the breast skin.
Any of these symptoms can be a sign of breast cancer. If you see any of these or have any doubt, consult a doctor immediately and start with breast cancer treatment if necessary. Let us move on and discuss the most common treatments of this illness.
9 common treatments for breast cancer
Depending upon the type of cancer and its severity, the doctor will decide on any one of the following treatment types.
Breast-Conserving Surgery
One of the treatments that most people know about is to remove that part of the breast that has the tumor. The idea behind this is, removing the cancer cells and some of the surrounding tissues to make the breasts completely cancer-free.
Mastectomy
It is also surgery, but in this, the entire breast gets removed. If the cancer is in the advanced stage, the patient may need to go for a double mastectomy in which the doctor removes both the breasts. Your doctor will decide whether to go for breast-conserving or mastectomy after diagnosis reports.
Lymph Node Removal
There are two types of surgical procedures carried out to remove the lymph node. One is the sentinel lymph node biopsy under which the particular lymph node where the cancer is more likely to spread gets removed. The other is Axillary lymph node dissection, in which the surgeon can remove multiple lymph nodes.
Chemotherapy
Not every woman having breast cancer needs chemotherapy. However, it is vital in those circumstances when cancer advances beyond the underarm and the breast and starts to spread in the other cells. How long a person would require chemo depends totally on how well the body responds to the therapy.
Hormone Therapy
Sometimes, the reason behind breast cancer is hormones. The receptors in the breast cancer cells attach to estrogen and progesterone, which help them grow, and cancer becomes worse. The doctors use hormone therapy as a breast cancer treatment to restrict these receptors from getting close to these hormones, thus stopping the cancer spread. It is an ideal treatment after the surgical removal of cancer cells as it rules out the chances of cancer coming back again.
Targeted Drug therapy
Over the years, researchers have come up with drugs that target cancer cells in particular. These drugs are different from chemotherapy drugs. They dissolve in the bloodstream and spread all over the body targeting the areas where cancer has spread. These drugs are so effective in some patients that they work even better than chemotherapy drugs. This breast cancer treatment can work for patients in both initial and advanced cancer stages.
Immunotherapy
Some types of breast cancers can get cured with immunotherapy treatment. In this treatment, doctors use medicines to strengthen the immune system of the person. They stimulate immunity to a level that it destroys the cancer cells from the root. Drugs like Pembrolizumab are often given to patients to enhance the immune system under immunotherapy.
Radiation Therapy
Under radiation therapy, the doctors use high-energy rays to destroy cancer cells from the breasts. Radiation therapy also helps lower the chances of cancer reoccurring in the breasts after the breast-conserving surgery or mastectomy.
Reconstructive Surgery
After the surgical removal of breast parts containing cancer cells, reconstructive surgery will help bring the breasts back into shape. Surgeons can use tissue from other body parts or use synthetic tissues to form the breasts again, making both breasts look similar.
These are the treatment types for breast cancer. Your doctor will decide the treatment after conducting a series of tests. He will consider the factors like cancer stage, spread, and its reaction to different drugs. Never ignore any sign your breasts are giving, consult the best doctors of the best hospitals, and start the treatment on time.
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