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Breast Cancer Treatment

Breast Cancer

Options in breast cancer treatment used to be few, but with more available today, a woman can feel more in control of her treatment choices and her body.

A Multi-Disciplinary Approach To Breast Cancer Treatment

A multidisciplinary approach to treating breast cancerl brings together pathology, radiology, surgical oncology, medical oncology and radiation oncology. The Webcast highlights a core needle biopsy, preoperative chemotherapy and demonstrate live, the use of regional anesthesia, (para-vertebral block) - a technique frequently used at BWH for breast and axillary surgery (removal of lymph nodes under the arms). In addition, the Webcast will emphasize different approaches to axillary surgery.

Breast cancer impacts more than your body, it also dramatically affects your mental well-being. The psychological impact of breast cancer can have a major impact on patients; and cancer treatments to support emotional wellbeing are an important part of the overall cancer treatment.

Options Of Choice

Breast Conserving Therapy

Breast-conserving therapy is the prefered option to mastectomy for most early-stage cancer patients.

The procedure involves a lumpectomy and examination and removal of the under-arm lymph nodes, followed by a course of radiation therapy.

This treatment is further supported by studies reported in the October 17, 2002 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The studies claim that women with relatively small breast cancers, who were treated with breast conservation surgery plus radiation therapy, were as likely to be alive and disease-free 20 years later as women treated with mastectomy.

Radiation Therapy [Brachytherapy]

Up to 25% of women who undergo breast conservation surgery (lumpectomy) do not proceed to radiation therapy, which is considered the standard of care following a lumpectomy.

The American Brachytherapy Society's 2003 recommendations support the use of partial breast irradiation in women over age 45 with small tumors (3 cm or less) who meet other technical criteria, such as location of the cancer, being over the age of 50, and other health factors.

With appropriate patient selection and adequate brachytherapy quality assurance, the five-year local recurrence rate for brachytherapy treatments is less than 5%.

Unfortunately, many women opt for mastectomy or toward lumpectomy only without follow-up radiation therapy where they face logistical constraints.

Mammosite HDR Brachytherapy

Mammosite Brachytherapy refers to radiation therapy that uses a special catheter designed for easy delivery of high-dose-rate radiation to the breast after lumpectomy.

Radiation is confined to the area of the lumpectomy, and only a limited area of surrounding tissue, rather than the whole breast.

The treatment is administered twice a day for five days, then the catheter is removed.

The treatment is much shorter than traditional external beam radiation to the entire breast, but fewer women qualify for this type of treatment. More on Mammosite

Mastectomy

Up to 40 percent of patients with early-stage breast cancer still opt for a mastectomy, despite comparable long-term recurrence and survival rates. There are varying degrees of mastectomy:

Lumpectomy
Simple mastectomy
Modified radical mastectomy
Radical mastectomy surgery

See Video on Types of Mastectomy

See Video on Total Mastectomy

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy alone has not proven effective for breast cancer treatment, however, it is often used as a follow up treatment post lumpectomy of early breast cancer.

Only recently, a chemical therapy option for breast cancer treatment has been approved by the FDS. Herceptin differs somewhat from normal chemotherapy.

Herceptin is now offering women around the world another option for breast cancer chemotherapy.

The FDA approval was based on data from 3,500 patients enrolled in two Phase III clinical trials. These results showed that the addition of Herceptin to standard adjuvant therapy significantly reduced the risk of breast cancer recurrence by 52 percent in women with HER2-positive breast cancer, compared to those patients who received standard adjuvant therapy alone.

Adjuvant therapy is given to women with early-stage (localized) breast cancer who have had initial treatment [surgery with or without radiation therapy] with the goal of reducing the risk of cancer recurrence and/or the occurrence of metastatic disease.

Next: Breast Reconstruction