Treatment of Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is a disease that can be treated with a variety of therapeutic and surgical techniques. Breast cancer is not as horrifying now as it was a few years back due to an increase in the sheer number of treatments available, many with considerably lower side effects. The most common treatments for breast cancer include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and hormone therapy.
Surgery
Oncologists often turn to surgery when dealing with breast cancer in one of its later stages. Different kinds of surgeries are performed for different types of breast cancer, each with the same aim--to remove all affected areas to control the disease.
A lumpectomy is a surgical procedure that is performed to remove localized, malignant breast cancer lumps or tumors and/or affected lymph nodes, if any.
A mastectomy is performed for breast cancers that spread beyond the breast. The procedure typically removed the entire breast and/or affected lymph nodes, if any.
Chemotherapy is a systemic treatment that runs medication through the bloodstream to destroy cancer cells. The procedure effectively destroys all cells--malignant or not--at the site of tumor. Chemotherapy is typically used after surgery to destroy leftover cancerous cells. In rare cases, chemotherapy is used prior surgery to reduce cancer expanse.
Radiation Therapy, commonly known as radiotherapy, is a procedure in which the body is exposed to radio waves. It is carried out after surgery to successfully destroy remaining cancerous cells. Radiation therapy is easier to bear than chemotherapy and has fewer side effects.
Hormone Therapy, also called anti-estrogen therapy, works against receptor positive hormones of breast cancer in effort to control them.
At Cancer Treatment Centers of America, they offer integrative, whole person care. Contact one of their representatives all day, every day by phone or online chat. Cancer Treatment Centers of America has Hospitals in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Zion Illinois, Tulsa Oklahoma, and Goodyear Arizona. For more information on their integrative treatment options for Breast Cancer, call today.
All materials copyright ©2009 Rising Tide, Kft. All rights reserved.
