Your treatment program will be specific to you. Upon diagnosis, a plan is mapped out, taking into consideration your age, overall health and health history, the type of breast cancer, how much the cancer has advanced, predicted course of the disease, tolerance for available procedures and medications, as well as the your preferences and opinions. You will be assigned one or more oncologists, as well as a fellowship trained surgeon in cases of breast cancer surgery.
Surgery
- Overview: Surgery is a common treatment for breast cancer. It’s done to remove as much of the cancer as possible.
- Sentinel Node Resection: Cancer often first spreads to nearby lymph nodes. So if you have swollen or enlarged lymph nodes, you may need a sentinel lymph node biopsy to remove your lymph nodes to check for cancer cells.
- Mastectomy: This method removes the whole breast and most of the overlying skin.
- Breast-Conserving Mastectomy (BCS): Only the part of the breast is removed. Breast-conserving surgery may be used as part of a treatment plan for breast cancer. It is sometimes called a lumpectomy or a partial mastectomy.
- Skin-Sparing Mastectomy: The breast tissue, nipple, and areola are removed, but most of the skin over the breast is saved.
- Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy: All of the breast tissue, including the ducts going all the way up to the nipple and areola, is removed, but the skin of the nipple and areola are preserved.
- Reconstructive Breast Surgery: Breast reconstruction is surgery to create a new breast in place of a breast that has been removed (mastectomy). A breast mound is created that comes as close as possible to the shape and look of a natural breast.
Radiation Therapy
- Overview: Breast cancer may not require surgery. Radiation Therapy is a minimally invasive procedure that’s used to shrink and destroy cancer cells. Radiation is often used along with other breast cancer treatments, like surgery or chemotherapy.
- Whole Breast Radiotherapy: Radiotherapy is a treatment for cancer most often used along with other treatments. It uses high-energy X-rays usually aimed at the whole breast.
- Partial Breast Radiotherapy: This radiation treatment is used in smaller parts of the breast, after a tumor removal, to minimize reoccurrence.
- Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT): This type of radiation treatment is given inside the body in the area of the cancer. It gives a higher dose of radiation to a small area for a shorter time. The radiation source may be put directly into the area of the breast tumor or put in through a small tube placed near the tumor.
- Brachytherapy: Brachytherapy is a type of internal radiation that is given inside the body as close to the cancer as possible. Internal radiation involves giving a higher dose of radiation in a shorter time span than with external radiation.
Medical Oncology
- Overview: INTEGRIS medical oncology is a dedicated group of medical oncologists specializing in diagnosing and caring for cancer patients with a variety of medicine options. These treatments are administered orally or intravenously depending upon the treatment plan developed by your multidiscipline cancer care team.
- Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy’s main method of function is to interfere with cancerous cells’ ability to develop and multiply. A patient may be prescribed a combination of a few types of chemotherapy, and it may also be prescribed in tandem with additional treatments, like radiation or surgery.
- Targeted therapy: Targeted therapy uses medicines that target specific parts of certain types of cancer cells, interfering with their ability to grow and survive. The therapies are specific to each person's cancer.
- Immunotherapy: This is a way to use the body's immune system to help treat or prevent many health problems. It may be used to treat or manage cancer.