Breast cancer treatment options
Get the facts about breast cancer treatment.
If you’re facing a
diagnosis of breast cancer, you may want to learn as much as you can about
the disease and how it’s treated in order to make informed decisions. Don’t hesitate
to reach out to your healthcare team for treatment information and support. By talking
openly with them, you can find out—and follow—the most appropriate treatment options
for you.
There are 2 main types of breast cancer treatments.
Local treatments include surgery and radiation. These treat specific tumors without
affecting other parts of the body.
Systemic or advanced breast cancer treatments include chemotherapy, hormone therapy,
and immunotherapy. These treatments circulate throughout the body to treat cancer
cells that may have spread from the breast. In some cases, combinations of these
treatment types are used.
Treatment may be given before or after surgery to remove a breast cancer. When given
before surgery, this is called
neoadjuvant therapy (usually systemic chemotherapy), used to shrink a tumor.
When given after surgery, this is called
adjuvant therapy. Adjuvant therapy targets cancer cells that may have spread
in the early stages of the disease.
Learn about local breast cancer treatments:
Surgery
Radiation
Learn about systemic breast cancer treatments:
Chemotherapy
Hormone Therapy
After treatment for breast cancer.
Regardless of how your breast cancer is treated, it is very important that you go
to all your scheduled follow-up appointments. This gives doctors a chance to ask
about returning
symptoms and to do more physical exams, lab tests, and imaging tests. You
can also take the opportunity to discuss any side effects.
Tell your healthcare
team about anything that concerns you, and take notes. If the treatment
is working well, that’s all the more reason to go to follow-ups.
Additionally, you may need certain exams based on what treatment you’re taking.
If you’re taking tamoxifen, you should have pelvic exams every year, as tamoxifen
can increase your risk of cancer of the uterus. If you’re taking an aromatase inhibitor,
your doctor may want to monitor your bone health and test your bone density. Other
tests—such as tests of the blood and liver, and chest X-rays—may not be needed unless
your symptoms return.
You are not alone.
Surviving breast cancer is a journey that begins at diagnosis. But it’s also a journey
you never have to go on alone.
Hear the inspirational
stories of others’ journeys
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