Breast Cancer Treatment Options vary, depending upon your age, overall health, the nature of your cancer and if and how it has spread.  Discuss all of your concerns openly and honestly with your doctor and together, with loved ones, you can ensure you are on the right treatment plan for your breast cancer diagnosis.  You are not alone, a sisterhood (and even many men who have survived breast cancer) is behind you, at your side, and holding your hand through this journey. 

Although surgery is the most effective (and therefore the most widely used) breast cancer treatment method, there are several other ways of coping with the disease, some are more powerful than others. They include radiation therapy, chemotherapy or hormone therapy, each with its own assets and disadvantages.

Most of them, however, are used in combination with surgery for best effects, either prior to, in order to reduce the size of the tumor or after surgery, to remove any remaining cancer cells. For a better understanding of these alternative methods of treatment for breast cancer, let’s take a closer look at each one, explaining how and in what cases might be helpful.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy uses powerful gamma rays (X-rays) which target the specific area that needs to be treated with great precision. Generally, radiation therapy is done after surgery to destroy any cancer cells that have not been withdrawn or which formed until the tumor was removed. Although it can not be used as a treatment on their own, radiation therapy is one of the most widely accepted after surgery for breast conservation methods of therapy (BCT) and has a high possibility of stopping cancer again happen.

As with all treatments involving X-rays, there are some disadvantages to the radiation therapy. First, in order to eliminate cancer cells that may have formed (or remains) in the area where the tumor was removed from the X-rays may damage some of the healthy tissues as well. Although the process is very precise, the rays can not make a difference between cancerous and normal cells, so oeburn "together.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy consists of the administration of drugs that kill cancer cells or prevent them from growing. Most of the chemotherapy drugs are given through an intravenous line, although some are administered in pill form. Chemotherapy is a harsh regime, which often makes people feel more patients who are suffering from the disease, however, has proved very effective.

Chemotherapy is a treatment method to use both before and after surgery. With the help of this method, you can virtually contract the cancerous tumor prior to surgery, making it easier and less complex to eliminate. In addition, chemotherapy is used in the same sense as radiation therapy after surgery, to stop the diseased cells to recur.

Chemotherapy is usually administered in cycles, where each cycle consists of a period of intensive treatment that lasts a few days or weeks, followed a week of recovery. Most patients with breast cancer are two to four cycles of chemotherapy to start before tests are performed to see what effect it has had on cancer.

Chemotherapy is different to radiation because it can treat the entire body with the possibility of finding other tumor cells that have migrated from the breast and surrounding area. Many people are familiar with chemotherapy side effects, but the side effects do not depend on drugs to treat the patient.

The most common side effects are loss of hair, loss of appetite, fatigue, vomiting and low blood cells of the patient more susceptible to infections, feeling sick or tired. Many ads that bleed more than normal, especially the gums, sores and small Scrapes etc.

There are three different strategies are used in chemotherapy for breast cancer:

Adjuvant chemotherapy, "this is given to patients who have undergone curative treatment for breast cancer, such as radiation or surgery. To reduce the possibility of the recurrence of breast cancer, this treatment is given.

Pre-surgical chemotherapy "is to reduce the possibility of a large tumor and / or kill any stray cancer cells. This will also increase the possibility that the surgery will kill the cancer completely.

Regular chemotherapy, "this is usually the people who have breast cancer that has spread beyond the breast or the environment local area.

Hormone therapy may also occur, as many breast cancers, such as those having a broad estrogen or progesterone receptors are sensitive to changes in hormones.

Tamoxifen treatment of breast cancer

Women who are genetically at high risk of developing breast cancer may benefit from tamoxifen as it has previously been seen in reducing the incidence of the disease. Raloxifene, used to treat osteoporosis, is being studied for the treatment of breast cancer.

In some cases of breast cancer, a woman of natural hormones are suppressed with drugs, while other patients find benefits by adding hormones. Tamoxifen, for example, is currently the most commonly prescribed effective hormone treatment. It can be used to treat breast cancer and the prevention of breast cancer. Tamoxifen has few side effects and can significantly improve the lives of women who have advanced cases of breast cancer.

Fulvestrant treatment of breast cancer

Another treatment, Fulvestrant has recently been approved in the U.S.. It is planned to be used for the treatment of hormone receptor positive metastastic breast cancer in women who have been through menopause. Is given following antiestrogen therapy.

Monoclonal breast cancer treatment

Another treatment known as monoclonal antibodies is that they are antagonistic against the proteins, which are in or around the cancer cells. They recognize an invader like a cancer cell and attack him. This antibody therapy is currently being investigated has a lot of hope for those suffering from breast cancer.

Excessive intake of alcohol and obesity after menopause may increase the risk of developing breast cancer, although this increase is slight. Such women are physically active have a lower risk.

Preventive or prophylactic mastectomies

More and more women who are at high risk of developing breast cancer are taking preventive or prophylactic mastectomies to avoid developing breast cancer.

The main risk factors for women to develop breast cancer are age, sex and genetics.

Women should carry out regular screening, including self-examination, mammography and clinical breast exam.

Author: Mars Sente

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mars_Sente