Some women choose to undergo breast reconstruction after surgery. Exploring options and preferences with your surgeon. Consider a referral to a plastic surgeon before surgery for breast cancer. Your options may include reconstruction with a synthetic breast implant or reconstruction using your own tissue. These operations can be performed at the time of mastectomy or at a later date.

Radiation therapy uses high-powered beams of energy, such as X-rays to kill cancer cells. Radiotherapy is usually done with a large machine that aims the rays of energy in your body (external radiation therapy). But radiation can also be done by placing radioactive material inside your body (brachytherapy).

External radiation therapy is commonly used after a lumpectomy for breast cancer early.

Doctors may also recommend radiation therapy after mastectomy for breast cancer larger. When external beam radiation is used when a woman has tested negative sentinel node biopsy, there is no evidence that the likelihood of cancer occurring in other lymph nodes is significantly reduced.

Side effects of radiotherapy are fatigue and a red, sunburn-like rash that targets radiation. Breast tissue can also appear swollen or firmer. Rarely, more serious problems may occur, including swelling of the arm (lymphedema), broken ribs and damage to the lungs or nerves.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. If the cancer has a high chance of returning or spreading to another part of your body, your doctor may recommend chemotherapy to reduce the possibility of the cancer returning. This is known as adjuvant systemic chemotherapy.

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Chemotherapy is sometimes given before surgery in women with larger breast tumors. Doctors call this neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The aim is to reduce the size of the tumor of a size that makes it easier to remove with surgery. This can also increase the chances of cure. Research is being conducted in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy to determine who can benefit from this treatment.

Chemotherapy is also used in women whose cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Chemotherapy may be recommended to help control the cancer and reduce symptoms of cancer is the cause.

Side effects of chemotherapy depend on the drugs you receive. Common side effects include hair loss, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and a small increased risk of infection.

Hormone therapy

Hormone therapy – perhaps more properly termed hormone blocking therapy – is often used to treat breast cancers sensitive to hormones. Doctors sometimes refer to these types of cancer such as estrogen receptor positive (ER positive) and progesterone receptor positive (PR positive) cancers.

Hormone therapy can be used after surgery or other treatments to decrease the chance that your cancer will return. If the cancer has spread, hormone therapy can reduce and control.

The treatments can be used in hormone therapy include:

1. Drugs that block hormones to attach to cancer cells. Tamoxifen is the most widely used selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM). SERMs act by blocking estrogen from attaching to estrogen receptors on cancer cells, reducing tumor growth and destroy tumor cells. Tamoxifen can be used in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Possible side effects include fatigue, hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness. The major risks are cataracts, blood clots, stroke and cancer of the uterus.

2. Drugs that prevent the body from producing estrogen after menopause. A group of drugs called aromatase inhibitors block the action of an enzyme that converts androgens into estrogen in the body. These drugs are only effective in postmenopausal women. Aromatase inhibitors include anastrozole (Arimidex), letrozole (Femara) and exemestane (Aromasin). Side effects of aromatase inhibitors include joint and muscle pain and an increased risk of bone thinning (osteoporosis). Another drug, fulvestrant (Faslodex), directly blocks estrogen, which keeps getting tumors that need estrogen to survive. Fulvestrant is commonly used in postmenopausal women for other hormone-blocking therapy is not effective or can not take tamoxifen. Side effects that may occur include fatigue flashes, nausea and hot. Fulvestrant is administered by injection once a month.

3. Surgery or drugs to stop the production of hormones by the ovaries. In premenopausal women, surgery to remove the ovaries or medications to prevent the ovaries from producing estrogen hormone treatment can be effective. This type of surgery is called a prophylactic oophorectomy and may be called surgical menopause.