There are five treatments for breast cancer including surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and targeted therapy. Because breast cancer is made up different kinds of cells, usually a combination of treatments is used to treat the cancer.
Instructions
1. Find out what stage your cancer is. There are different treatment plans for each stage. At stages one and two, for example, depending on the tumor size you can have a lumpectomy with radiation treatments or a total mastectomy. At stage three, a mastectomy is recommended with radiation and chemotherapy.
2. Research the options. Talk about the treatments with your physician; he or she will help you decide what options are best. Join a support group and talk to people about what treatments they used to get through breast cancer. Research the side effects of each options and consider which ones would go best with your lifestyle.
3. Consider the possibility of recurrence. Genetic tests are available that can tell you your probability for breast cancer recurrence. If the probability is high your doctor can prescribe drugs that will lower the chances. This will also help you decide which surgery is best for you. For example, you may want to get a preventative mastectomy to significantly lower the chances of a recurrence of breast cancer.
4. Research clinical trials available. If you have stage four cancer, which is a cancer spread throughout your body, this may be a good option for you. If you join a clinical trial, you will be the one of the first to try new treatments that could save your life. Clinical trial participants receive other benefits such as having some or all of their health care paid for, and reimbursement for time and travel expenses.
Tags: breast cancer, breast cancer Research, cancer Research, help decide, lower chances, radiation chemotherapy, with radiation
