Latest Treatments on Breast Cancer

Treatment for breast cancer involves many types of approaches. The initial diagnosis and clinical work up is the guide to the type of treatment you will undergo.There are some criteria on which your cancer treatment depends like the cellular composition of the cancer, the size of the tumor, the stage of cancer you have and your hormonal status. You general health status also plays a role in deciding the line of treatment. This article will take you through some of the latest treatments on breast cancer.

Surgery and radiation therapy are most effective when the tumor is localized to the breast and can be easily removed. Benign tumors and small sized tumors are treated in this way. The latest treatments on breast cancer include advances in chemotherapy, hormonal therapy and biologic therapy. These are used in advanced stages of cancer when the tumor is no longer confined just to the breast. They are used in metastatic cancer which has spread to other parts of the body as well.

Breast cancer surgery aims at removing the bulk of the cancerous tissue. Better surgical options have emerged which give patients the chance to undergo reconstruction surgery after a mastectomy. Surgery may also be in the form of a breast or lymph node biopsy which is done for a diagnosis. Latest treatments on breast cancer have surgical options which include a prophylactic mastectomy or a removal of the ovaries in some cases.

Radiation therapy destroys the cancer cells and prevents them from proliferating within the body. This helps prevent the spread of cancer. Radiations has also advanced by leaps and bounds. The latest treatments on breast cancer also include targeted radiation. This is more effective and prevents injury to the surrounding healthy cells as well. Radiation can now be delivered in appropriate doses with lesser side effects.

Chemotherapy is considered systemic therapy as it targets cancer cells in the entire body. New schedules of chemotherapy include adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy. These can also be supplemented by a stem cell or bone marrow transplant which is useful in cases where the immune system is severely depressed. Stem cell therapy has become the cynosure of all eyes as it offers unbelievable potential in cases like breast cancer. Stem cell therapy is one of the latest treatments on breast cancer. It allows the patient to receive stem cells which have the potential to turn into any of the body's cells and replicate at a faster pace to combat the cancer cells.

Targeted biologic therapies are another chapter in the latest treatments on breast cancer. These therapies are designed to disrupt cellular processes that contribute to the continued growth of cancer cells. Such therapies include drugs like Tykerb, Herceptin, Avastin and Iressa. Breast cancers are frequently dependent on estrogen for their growth. Anti-estrogen hormone therapy starves tumor cells of the estrogen they need to grow, resulting in cancer cell death. This type of therapy may be delivered before surgery, or concurrently with radiation.

Hormone therapies can include estrogen receptor blockers, aromatase inhibitors, oopherectomy and chemical ovarian suppression.

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Treatment Options For Breast Cancer

Mammograms are routinely prescribed by women's physicians as a means of early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer. Doctors are persistent in this recommendation because breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in women after lung cancer. With early diagnosis and treatment, 97% of women with localized breast cancer are alive 5 years later.

Once breast cancer has been found, further tests will be determining the extent of the cancer, a process known as staging. Understanding the extent of the cancer helps in the formation of an effective treatment plan. The following stages are used for breast cancer:

Stage 0 is used to describe early cancers, which make up15-20% of all breast cancers. These early cancers are referred to as 'carcinoma in situ' or 'cancer in place'. Occasionally an abnormality or lump seen on a mammogram is biopsied. With carcinoma in situ, a woman has a 25% chance of developing breast cancer in the next 25 years.

Stage 1 is characterized by a localized cancer, no bigger than 2 centimeters or 1", and involves only breast tissue.

Stage II has several different set of criteria.

Cancer


Cancer 2 - 5 centimeters (1"-2"), with or without lymph node involvement.

Cancer > 5 centimeters (>2"), without involvement of the lymph nodes.

Stage III is divided into several categories, with all involving cancer >5 centimeters, but varying by the involvement of nodes, skin, chest wall, and/or bones.

Stage IV is the most critical, being the stage of cancer where extensive metastasis or spreading has occurred to involve vital organs - lungs, liver, bones and/or brain.

Treatments and Therapies

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). Some tumors can be inhibited by hormones. To determine if a particular tumor is sensitive to hormone exposure, a biopsy is performed, and a hormone receptor test is conducted. This receptor test also helps determine the probability of a tumor return. Physicians often use HRT in combination with other cancer therapies.

Surgery of varying types is performed to remove cancerous cells. It may be a radical surgery where extensive tissue, (the entire breasts) and/or lymph nodes, are involved; or something more conservative, such as a lumpectomy, removing only the suspect tissue.

Radiation therapy applies specialized x-rays to cancer cells and is less devastating now that ways to target the radiation are being used. Radiation is used with other treatments when, for example, surgery would carry too much risk for the loss of critical tissue.

Chemotherapy, a standard, uses ever-more targeted drugs to kill cancer cells. The newest drugs are tailored to specific cancer cell characteristics both internal and external.

Two of the newer techniques, biological therapy, a more holistic approach to use the individual's own immune system, and bone marrow transplants, designed to protect the spread of cancer to the bone, are also being tested. While new treatments are showing success at treating and inhibiting cancers, the best recommendation from the medical community is for prevention.

Dr. Logan Pallas is a medical researcher, cancer expert and writer. For more information about effective breast cancer treatments visit Dr. Pallas' Cancer Breakthroughs website where he covers every aspect of an effective treatment in great detail.

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