Breast Cancer Treatment

Written by : Dr.M.D.Mazumdar, MD

How is Invasive Breast Cancer Treated?

Treatment of Invasive Breast Cancer depends on the stage of the cancer, the size of the tumor, metastasis, if any and hormone positivity of the tumor. The general health condition of the patient is also taken into consideration.

Staging of the cancer need sto be done accurately by different methods- ultrasound, biopsy, CT scan, MRI or PET scan.

Treatment may be local or systemic:

• Local Treatment : Local treatments include surgeries like lumpectomy, mastectomy and dissection of the lymph nodes like the Sentinel lymph nodes and the Axillary lymph nodes. Radiotherapy is also considered a local treatment.

• Systemic Treatment : Systemic treatments are those treatments in which the whole body is affected by the treatment procedure. It includes chemotherapy, hormone therapy and targeted therapy. Systemic treatments are generally carried out when the tumor has metastasized from its original site in the breast. Hormone therapy is necessary in breast cancers whch are hormone positive.

  Systemic treatment causes more side effects than local treatments since even normal cells are affected by the treatment procedures.

Treatment Options of Breast Cancer

Treatment Options according to the Stage of the Cancer

Stages I, II and III and operable stage III - Treatment consists of one of the following:

• Breast-conserving surgery like lumpectomy to remove only the cancer and some surrounding breast tissue, followed by lymph node dissection and radiation therapy.
• Modified radical mastectomy with or without breast reconstruction surgery.
• Sentinel lymph node biopsy followed by surgery
• Adjuvant therapy (treatment given after surgery to increase the chances of a cure) that may include: radiation therapy to the lymph nodes near the breast and to the chest wall after a modified radical mastectomy, systemic chemotherapy with or without hormone therapy.

Stage IIIB and inoperable stage IIIC breast cancer - Treatment options are :

• Chemotherapy
• Chemotherapy followed by surgery (lumpectomy or total mastectomy),
• Lymph node dissection followed by radiation therapy
• Additional systemic therapy (chemotherapy, hormone therapy or both)