Breast Cancer: Death Sentence?
Secondary breast cancer is when a cancerous mass that began in the
breast begins to spread to another part of the body. The secondary
cancer is made of the same type of cells as the cancer in the breast,
however. Doctors try to treat the secondary breast cancer with the
treatment that will not cause the primary cancer to get out of control
and cause the least amount of side effects to the patient. Out of the
various treatments, the treatment selected will depend on factors such
as where the secondary breast cancer has moved to, what treatments you
have had in the past, if the cancerous cells have estrogen or growth
receptors, and of course, your own general health and age.
There is a stigma about negative side effects associated with having to
undergo cancer treatment. This is basis of the big scare that women feel
when diagnosed with breast cancer. While it is true that cancer
treatments can cause side effects, most times these can be kept under
control with regiment of medication. Without cancer treatment, the
results would be unpredictable. With treatment, a cancer patient may be
able to control the spread of the cancer for a long time. The goal is to
be able to prolong life, improve the symptoms associated with having
cancer and maintain a quality functional life. For some women, the
treatment will, in fact, improve the situation by making the cancer
smaller or eliminating it altogether. For others, unfortunately, the
treatment may have little effect or not have an effect on the cancer at
all. When this happens, it is difficult to make any viable decision
about treatment.
Hormonal therapy is a type of therapy for cells that have estrogen
receptors. Estrogen can promote the growth of cancerous cells in the
breast and other areas of the body. As such, this therapy would
introduce drugs into the body that would lessen the level of estrogen in
the body as well as inhibit estrogen from attaching to the cancerous
cells. There are various types of hormonal therapy. Doctors used a
variety because in some situations one may be used after the initial
treatment and to treat the return of a certain type of cancerous, the
physician may switch to a different type of hormonal therapy.
The most commonly discussed type of cancer treatment is chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy is the use of very toxic drugs to destroy cancerous cells
in the body. This type of therapy employs using drugs that literally
attack the cancerous cells in the body. Usually it is used in situations
where the cancer has become advanced or is spreading very quickly. It is
used in cycles of every week or every few weeks over the course of
several months. When discussing side effects of cancer treatment, it is
usually chemotherapy that is the cause. It can cause very unpleasant and
visible side effects, but these can be controlled with medications. Side
effects include being more prone to infection, more susceptibility to
bruising or bleeding, becoming anemic, nausea, vomiting, sore mouth and
ulcers, loss of appetite, and hair loss. This sounds like a long list of
side effects but chemotherapy affect people in different ways and once
chemotherapy is over – the side effects subside as well as the symptoms
of cancer.
Radiotherapy is for use in women who have secondary breast cancer in the
bones, skin or lymph nodes and sometimes, the brain. It uses high energy
rays to destroy the cancer cells but it does very little harm to the
normal cells. Although there may be some damage to the normal cells,
radiotherapy only requires short exposure to treatment in very low
doses. The good thing is that there are very little side effects
associated with this form of treatment. Depending on the part of the
body, you may feel nausea or have some diarrhea, but only slightly for a
short period of time. Once again, these side effects can be controlled
by medications. To debunk a myth, radiotherapy does not make you
radioactive and is perfectly safe! |
