Primary Treatment for Breast Cancer

Besides COVID-19, cancer is also a disease that we need to be cautious of in order to prevent delays in treatment. Let’s see the primary treatment for breast cancer.

Breast cancer is one of the most common women’s cancer. There are 4 stages of breast cancer which is ranked in severity, just like other kinds of cancer. Stage 1-3 is the early stage of cancer that is not spreading to other tissues or organs, and it is treatable. Stage 4 is the cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.

Principles of Breast cancer treatment consist of 3 important parts as follows:

1. Surgery: Surgery is the main treatment for stage 1-3 breast cancer, and in some cases of stage 4. There are 2 types of surgery, which are Breast conservation surgery and Mastectomy.

2. Systemic Treatment: Drugs that spread throughout the body to treat cancer cells which includes chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and targeted therapy (HER2).

• Chemotherapy is considered to treat stage 1-3 breast cancer in order to reduce the risk of recurrence. But for stage 4, chemotherapy will be used to control the symptom and increase the rate of survival.
• Hormonal Therapy is mainly in the form of oral medicine. Hormonal therapy will be used to treat stage 1-3 breast cancer patients whose cancer relies on hormones to fuel the tumor’s growth in order to reduce the risk of recurrence, and it is a treatment option for stage 4 cancer.
• Targeted Therapy or the drug that targets HER2. This drug will be considered to use on breast cancer patient who has found higher numbers of HER2 than normal to reduce the risk of recurrence, and it is a treatment option for stage 4 cancer along with chemotherapy to increase the effectiveness of the treatment.

Besides the above primary treatment options for breast cancer, there are other new drugs that could treat breast cancer effectively.

3. Radiotherapy: Radiotherapy is a cancer treatment that uses high dose of radiation to kill cancer cells after the surgery to reduce the risk of recurrence and to get better results.

In conclusion, the treatment depends on the type of cancer, the stage of the cancer and the physical condition of each patient.