Medication
After surgery for a stage 1, 2 or 3 cancer, a decision is made about using anticancer drugs. Both chemotherapy and hormone therapy can be enlisted to patrol the whole body and destroy wayward cancer cells. This approach is often referred to as adjuvant therapy.
The heavyweight here is chemotherapy, which benefits most women with breast cancer. Whether you're pre- or postmenopausal, whethery lymph nodes are involved or not, you're more likely to enjoy a long-term, relaps-free recovery if you undergo chemotherapy. On the other hand, while chemotherapy reduces the risk of cancer reappearing in other parts of your body, it's not recommended when it poses more of a health risk than cancer does. After all, chemotherapy destroys not only cancer cells that normal, healthy cells as well. Chemotherapy probably won't be suggested if you have a cancer unlikely to spread, are over age 70 or are otherwise quite ill.
Most women start chemotherapy after surgery and continue treatments for about three months. If you have a relatively large tumour (more than 5 cm), presurgery chemotherapy may be recommended with six months or so of additional chemo after surgical recovery. And good results have been seen by prolonging chemotherapy in women with lymph node involvement.
Chemotherapy agents all work a little differently. Some are taken orally, others by Iv or injection. Side effects vary as well; If your reactions are very severe (see on previous), talk to your doctor and may be you can switch drugs. Most regimens are given in cycles. Combinations such as CMF (Cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil) or CA (cyclophosphamide and Adriamycin) are common. The hormone-receptor status of the tumour is also a factor in choosing chemotherapy. For example, adding paciltaxel (Taxol, derived from the Pacific yew tree) after CA further lowers the risk of recurrence with a hormone-receptor negative tumour.
TREATMENTS OF TOMORROW
Dramatic advances are in the wings. Breakthrough surgical techniques can now destroy tumours while sparing considerable breast tissue.
In tumour ablation, a probe inserted through a tiny incision delivers painless radio frequency energy to varporise tumour cells. An endoscopy enable surgeons to examine (and possibly treat) tumours with a miniature fibre-optic camera inserted through the nipple. The 'smart' drugs can block or bind to cancer causing proteins or receptors. With molecular forecasting, doctors pluck and study strands of tumour DNA to predict which are likely to spread--and which drugs might work. Experimental biological agents, such as vaccines, boost the ability of the immune system to fight the cancer. Even bone marrow transplants are being explored.
LYMPHOEDEMA is a long-term swelling of the arm that may occur after surgery or radiotherapy in the lymph nodes in the armpit. Symptoms include heaviness of the arm along with swelling, but this swelling can be controlled with early physiotherapy. Less than 1 in 10 women who have had either surgery or radiation will get this condition, though the risk increases to 1 in 3 women if you have had both treatments. It is not curable.
After surgery for a stage 1, 2 or 3 cancer, a decision is made about using anticancer drugs. Both chemotherapy and hormone therapy can be enlisted to patrol the whole body and destroy wayward cancer cells. This approach is often referred to as adjuvant therapy.
The heavyweight here is chemotherapy, which benefits most women with breast cancer. Whether you're pre- or postmenopausal, whethery lymph nodes are involved or not, you're more likely to enjoy a long-term, relaps-free recovery if you undergo chemotherapy. On the other hand, while chemotherapy reduces the risk of cancer reappearing in other parts of your body, it's not recommended when it poses more of a health risk than cancer does. After all, chemotherapy destroys not only cancer cells that normal, healthy cells as well. Chemotherapy probably won't be suggested if you have a cancer unlikely to spread, are over age 70 or are otherwise quite ill.
Most women start chemotherapy after surgery and continue treatments for about three months. If you have a relatively large tumour (more than 5 cm), presurgery chemotherapy may be recommended with six months or so of additional chemo after surgical recovery. And good results have been seen by prolonging chemotherapy in women with lymph node involvement.
Chemotherapy agents all work a little differently. Some are taken orally, others by Iv or injection. Side effects vary as well; If your reactions are very severe (see on previous), talk to your doctor and may be you can switch drugs. Most regimens are given in cycles. Combinations such as CMF (Cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil) or CA (cyclophosphamide and Adriamycin) are common. The hormone-receptor status of the tumour is also a factor in choosing chemotherapy. For example, adding paciltaxel (Taxol, derived from the Pacific yew tree) after CA further lowers the risk of recurrence with a hormone-receptor negative tumour.
TREATMENTS OF TOMORROW
Dramatic advances are in the wings. Breakthrough surgical techniques can now destroy tumours while sparing considerable breast tissue.
In tumour ablation, a probe inserted through a tiny incision delivers painless radio frequency energy to varporise tumour cells. An endoscopy enable surgeons to examine (and possibly treat) tumours with a miniature fibre-optic camera inserted through the nipple. The 'smart' drugs can block or bind to cancer causing proteins or receptors. With molecular forecasting, doctors pluck and study strands of tumour DNA to predict which are likely to spread--and which drugs might work. Experimental biological agents, such as vaccines, boost the ability of the immune system to fight the cancer. Even bone marrow transplants are being explored.
LYMPHOEDEMA is a long-term swelling of the arm that may occur after surgery or radiotherapy in the lymph nodes in the armpit. Symptoms include heaviness of the arm along with swelling, but this swelling can be controlled with early physiotherapy. Less than 1 in 10 women who have had either surgery or radiation will get this condition, though the risk increases to 1 in 3 women if you have had both treatments. It is not curable.
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