If the tumour is hormone-positive, you will receive hormonal therapy (anti-oestrogen treatment) following surgery--regardless of your age, menopausal status, lymph node in involvement or the tumour size. Anti-oestrogen therapy is helpful even if only a tiny amount of hormone action is present because it can prevent your own oestrogen hormones from stiumulating these cells and growing new tumours.
The most common form of anti-oestrogen therapy is a class of medications called selective oestrogen receptor-modulators (SERMs). Most widely used in tamoxifen (Novladex, Tamoxen), which blocks oestrogen from latching onto breasts cell receptors through trickery: because it closely resembles oestrogen, breast cancer cells accept it instead. This prevents your own oestrogen from delivering its 'growth' (and cancer-stimulating) signal. It also prompts the cancer cells to die. Tamoxifen cuts the risk of a new cancer in the other breast by 50 percent and reduces the risk of cancer elsewhere in the body too. Studies show that taking it for five years is better than for one to two; hot flushes and vaginal discharge are common side effects. If you have the BRCA1 gene (a genetic mutation linked to an inherited form of breast cancer), tamoxifen probably won't help prevent a new cancer, but it might well fight breast cancer that's already there. Tamoxifen also lowers the risk for cancer if you have BRCA2, another gene variation.
SORTING THROUGH YOUR RECONSTRUCTION OPTIONS
There are various choices for breast reconstruction, which can be done during inital surgery or at a later date.
New hormone therapy agents called aromatase inhibitors also target oestrogen production. These drugs won't help if you're pre-menopausal because they can't keep up with the prodigious natural oestrogen output of your ovaries. But you can benefit if you're postmenopasual and your cancer is advanced. The new drug anastrazole (Arimidex) appears to be as effective, if not more, than tamoxifen.
Another treatment option for premenopausal women with harmone-positive tumours is the remova of the ovaries, either by drugs or surgery. This halts the oestrogen fuelling breast cancer growth, but it also ends fertility and so can be emotionally taxing. If a breast cancer is very aggressive and has spread, the doctor may recommend a biological agent, the monoclonal antibody drug tratuzumab (Herceptin). It blocks the growth of cancer cells in about 30 percent of cases by targeting a protein (HER2) that is abudant in some tumours.
Lifestyle changes
A good treatment strategy takes into account your emotions as well as your body. Here are a few things you can do:
Join a support group: This can be tremendously important in helping you deal with your feelings, which may well include fear, anger, loneliness, betrayal by your body, even despair. There are groups to help your children and other family members cope too.
Exercise regularly. Many women report exercise helps them tolerate therapy better. Ask about special arm and shoulder exercise if you've had lymph node surgery.
Eat a balanced and nutritious diet. Good eating can bolster your body's drive to stay healthy and fight the cancer.
Keep weight under control. Excess kilos may help lower your odds or raise the risk of a cancer recurrence.
Concentrate on de-stressing. Get plenty of rest; then explore proven techniques such as biofeedback, massage and meditation.
The most common form of anti-oestrogen therapy is a class of medications called selective oestrogen receptor-modulators (SERMs). Most widely used in tamoxifen (Novladex, Tamoxen), which blocks oestrogen from latching onto breasts cell receptors through trickery: because it closely resembles oestrogen, breast cancer cells accept it instead. This prevents your own oestrogen from delivering its 'growth' (and cancer-stimulating) signal. It also prompts the cancer cells to die. Tamoxifen cuts the risk of a new cancer in the other breast by 50 percent and reduces the risk of cancer elsewhere in the body too. Studies show that taking it for five years is better than for one to two; hot flushes and vaginal discharge are common side effects. If you have the BRCA1 gene (a genetic mutation linked to an inherited form of breast cancer), tamoxifen probably won't help prevent a new cancer, but it might well fight breast cancer that's already there. Tamoxifen also lowers the risk for cancer if you have BRCA2, another gene variation.
SORTING THROUGH YOUR RECONSTRUCTION OPTIONS
There are various choices for breast reconstruction, which can be done during inital surgery or at a later date.
- Implants made of saline solution, silicone, gel or tissue from another part of your body can give the appearance of the original breast. While silicone gel implants don't have the risk of autoimmune disease, as was once feared, 95 percent will leak at some point within 20 years. If there's not enough skin to cover an implant, you might need a device called a tissue expander, which slowly stretches the skin over a period of six months.
- Tissue flaps are another possibility, a plastic surgeon transfers skin, fat and muscle from another part of your body to make a new breast in a complex procedure which takes four to six hours. Many women feel better about their bodies after such a natural reconstruction. But there are risk: infection, reduced strength, pain or numbness and tingling (in the chest, underarm and/or shoulder).
- A prosthesis (breast form) that slips into a regular bra or a pocket in a mastectomy bra may be good if more surgery is unappealing. Silicone gel forms are comfortable and adjust well to your body temperature.
New hormone therapy agents called aromatase inhibitors also target oestrogen production. These drugs won't help if you're pre-menopausal because they can't keep up with the prodigious natural oestrogen output of your ovaries. But you can benefit if you're postmenopasual and your cancer is advanced. The new drug anastrazole (Arimidex) appears to be as effective, if not more, than tamoxifen.
Another treatment option for premenopausal women with harmone-positive tumours is the remova of the ovaries, either by drugs or surgery. This halts the oestrogen fuelling breast cancer growth, but it also ends fertility and so can be emotionally taxing. If a breast cancer is very aggressive and has spread, the doctor may recommend a biological agent, the monoclonal antibody drug tratuzumab (Herceptin). It blocks the growth of cancer cells in about 30 percent of cases by targeting a protein (HER2) that is abudant in some tumours.
Lifestyle changes
A good treatment strategy takes into account your emotions as well as your body. Here are a few things you can do:
Join a support group: This can be tremendously important in helping you deal with your feelings, which may well include fear, anger, loneliness, betrayal by your body, even despair. There are groups to help your children and other family members cope too.
Exercise regularly. Many women report exercise helps them tolerate therapy better. Ask about special arm and shoulder exercise if you've had lymph node surgery.
Eat a balanced and nutritious diet. Good eating can bolster your body's drive to stay healthy and fight the cancer.
Keep weight under control. Excess kilos may help lower your odds or raise the risk of a cancer recurrence.
Concentrate on de-stressing. Get plenty of rest; then explore proven techniques such as biofeedback, massage and meditation.
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