Breast Cancer Treatment
Based on your biopsy results and the type of cancer, you and your doctor will decide the best treatment for your breast cancer. here are the treatments that may be done:
Surgery
Surgery is done to remove as much of the cancer as possible. Either the whole breast is removed, called mastectomy,or a part of the breast is removed, called lumpectomy. With either surgery, lymph nodes under the arm are checked for cancer. You and your doctor may also talk about reconstruction surgery. This surgery is done to create the look of a normal breast.
You may still need to have more treatment. Having a mastectomy or lumpectomy does not guarantee that the breast cancer is gone from the entire body. Small cancer cells that are too small to detect may remain in the body.
Hormone Therapy and Chemotherapy
Treatment may be needed to target cancer cells that may be remaining in the body. It may be done before surgery to shrink a tumor or after surgery to kill cancer cells that may have spread or that remain in the body.
Hormone Therapy
Is medicine in pill from taken to work against estrogen in the body. The most common side effect is signs of menopause.
Chemotherapy
Is medicine given in IV (intravenous) tube in a vein or as a pill. The medicine kill cancer cells. Common side effects include feeling tired, hair loss and nausea. These side effects are often temporary.
Radiation Therapy
When a lumpectomy is done , it is often followed by radiation therapy. Radiation therapy is done to treat the entire breast. Radiation therapy often begins 4 to 6 weeks after surgery.