|
Treatment of Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer
A new diagnosis of breast cancer is often paired with difficult sensations, emotions and responses including fear, shock, numbness and disbelief, anger, betrayal, grief and sadness. In the midst of this emotional trauma, information must be gathered, often a new language of medical terms learned, treatment choices must be understood and difficult decisions must be made. Women often report being overwhelmed or at least intensely challenged to make sense of the medical maze.
Three specialty areas of central importance in the treatment of breast cancer include: surgical oncology, medical oncology and radiation oncology. Not everyone is treated with all of these, but each is weighed for the benefits offered and for the potential risks incurred. Each of these areas can be thought of as a treatment building block.
These treatments may be given in different order and over differing amounts of time. An individual treatment plan is recommended based on the stage and biological behavior of the breast cancer, as well as the individual preferences of the newly diagnosed patient. A combination of treatment strategies is often the best method to treat the cancer and prevent its recurrence.
People respond differently to treatment and its side effects. Individuals feel and think differently in reponse to diagnosis and treatment. Breast cancer survivors teach us that while these treatments can be difficult, the care and support they receive from their medical team and their loved ones can help greatly to weather this period.
At the Breast Care Center, our specialists all work together to tailor care to the needs of each newly diagnosed breast cancer patient.
To make an appointment with one of our physicians, please call (415) 353-7111.
Surgical Oncology
A breast cancer surgeon is a physician with specialty surgical training and expertise in clinical breast exam, biopsy, and breast surgery for benign breast diseases and breast cancer. The surgeon works collaboratively with physicians in mammography and radiology, nuclear medicine, and pathology to plan and do diagnostic procedures. They work as a team with physicians in radiation and medical oncology to plan breast cancer treatment once it has been diagnosed. The breast surgeon does breast surgery-either alone or with a plastic surgeon.
Medical Oncology
A medical oncologist is an internist with a specialty residency (and often fellowship) in medical oncology. Medical oncology is the study of and use of systemic therapies (treatments that treat the entire body) which include the use of chemotherapy (drugs to treat cancer) and hormone therapy (drugs that interfere with the body's hormonal stimulation of tumor growth). Chemotherapy may be given for primary breast cancer (cancer believed not to have spread outside of the breast and lymph nodes) either before or after surgery. Chemotherapy may also be used as treatment for metastatic (spread to other organs of the body) breast cancer. Hormonal therapy (eg. Tamoxifen, Nolvadex) can be given for primary or metastatic breast cancer. A medical oncologist has expertise in managing these treatments and treatment side effects and problems encountered with breast cancer over the course of the illness.
Radiation Oncology
A radiation oncologist is a physician who completes a residency and often a fellowship in the treatment of cancer with radiation therapy: the use of radiation particles in a controlled way to treat cancer. Radiation therapy may be used in the local treatment of primary breast cancer (most often following breast conserving lumpectomy, less commonly after mastectomy for larger cancers) or as a method to control metastatic disease and alleviate symptoms (eg. radiation of the spine in the setting of bone metastasis may stop or slow growth of disease preventing damage to the spinal cord and decreasing pain.).
|
