Treatment of Breast Cancer

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Breast cancer comprises 10.4% of all cancer worldwide. The disease affects both men and women in all races. However, the rate of incidence is twice higher in women than in men.
Management and control of the prevalence of disease includes prevention of the risks, diagnostic screening, and treatment of breast cancer.
Treatment of breast cancer depends on the degree of the affected part or the stage of the disease. Comparing treatment per stage differs from type of surgery to subsequent radiation and chemotherapy.
Surgery is usually the first step in the treatment of breast cancer. Depending on the stage of the disease and the area of affected by cancer tumor decides the type of surgery. The more complex stage of the disease, the more it requires radical surgery.
1. Lumpectomy is the removal of the lump in the breast. This is the most conservative type of surgery and does not require removal of large tissues inside the breast.
2. Mastectomy is the removal of a portion of the breast or the whole breast. This is required for the removal of larger tumor or of more than one tumor in the breast.
3. Radical mastectomy is the removal of the whole breast and other surrounding tissues. This operation is done to remove cancer growths that spread in other parts of the chest.
Radiation therapy follows the surgical operation and facilitates the reduction of cancer re-occurrence. A high-energy radiation such as X-rays and gamma rays is used to kill the remaining cancer cells after the tumor has been removed.
Chemotherapy is suggested as adjunct treatment with surgery. This uses multiple chemotherapeutic agents that help to kill or to control the cancer cells. There are three types of chemotherapy.
1. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy – it help in reducing the size of the tumor.
2. Adjuvant chemotherapy – it help reduce the re-occurrence of the cancer.
3. Palliative chemotherapy – it does not cure the disease but it help to control the spread of cancer cell. This is used when the cancer spread beyond the breast tissues and surrounding lymph nodes. This is given mostly on terminal cases of cancer.

This post was written by : Normelito Garcia is 24 years old and a graduate of Bachelor of Science of Nursing. I am currently taking up Master of Arts in Nursing. I am completing my thesis about patient's anxiety. I work as a nursing college instructor in one of the state university in our country. I am also a staff nurse in a district hospital near my place.