What are the treatments for breast cancer apart from the surgery?

Posted by Logintohealth on October 29th, 2018

Treatments for breast cancer - Radiation Therapy, Chemotherapy, and Hormone Therapy

Breast cancer can be treated with the help of the various other treatments. These treatments can be performed before the surgery as well as after the surgery. However, this treatment should be given with the consultation of an oncologist.

Breast cancer is the cancerous growth in the cells of the breast. Breast cancer is most common among women. This cancer is the 2nd most affecting cancer to the people in the world. One can develop cancer because of some of the risk factors which can be either natural or lifestyle based. Therefore, it is important to go under regular checkup to know the disease in time.

Non Surgical Treatments of Breast Cancer

Following are the treatments apart from the surgical treatments –

1. Radiation Therapy – Radiation therapy involves the high powered beams of energy. These beams can by any rays like X Rays and protons. This can be done to kill the cancer cells. It is typically done using a large machine that will aim the energy beam in the body. The radiation can also be done by placing the radioactive material inside the body. External beam radiation of the whole breast is performed after the lumpectomy. Breast Brachytherapy is also an option after the lumpectomy. Doctors may even recommend the radiation therapy to the walls of the chest after the mastectomy for large breast cancers that have been spread to the lymph nodes. The breast cancer radiation can last from a month to a month and a half. The doctor who will use the radiation will determine which treatment is best.
   
   
2. Chemotherapy – Chemotherapy makes the use of the drugs to destroy the fast-growing cells like the cancer cells. IF you have a high chance of returning cancer or any other part of the body, the doctor may recommend you the chemotherapy after the surgery to reduce this risk. Chemotherapy is given to the women with the larger breasts tumor to reduce the chances of surgery. The goal of chemotherapy is to shrink the tumor and makes it easier to recover from the surgery. The side effects of chemotherapy will depend on the drugs that are received by you. The side effects of chemotherapy involve hair loss, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and increased risk of the infection. Rare side effects include the menopause, damage to the heart, kidney, nerve damage, blood cancer, and infertility.
   
   
3. Hormone Therapy – Hormone therapy is the hormone-blocking therapy and is often used to treat breast cancer which is sensitive to the hormones. Oncologists refer to this as the estrogen receptor positive and the progesterone receptor positive. Hormone therapy can be used before and after the surgery. If the cancer is spread out, the hormone therapy will shrink and get control. Following are the treatments can be included in the hormone therapy-

• Medication that blocks the hormones from attracting to the cancer cells.
• Surgery or the medications to stop the hormone production in the ovaries.
• Medication that stops the body from making the estrogen after the menopause.
  
  

4. Targeted therapy drugs – The targeted treatments attack the abnormalities in the cancer cells. The targeted therapy drugs will focus on the protein that produces the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2. They focus on the abnormalities in the cancer cells. Targeted therapy is the active area of cancer research.  The cancer cells have to be tested to see whether you will benefit from the targeted therapy drugs. The medications that will be used after the surgery so that cancer will not return. The other cases that are used in the cases of advanced breast cancer to slow down the growth of the tumor.

Therefore, these are highly helpful in treating breast cancer. These treatments can be given before the surgery as well as after the surgery.