The Guidelines For Breast Cancer Treatment
Breast cancer treatment is different for every patient afflicted with this deadly disease. There are several stages of Breast cancer which decide the plan of treatment to be followed.
Stage 0
This is the initial stage of Breast Cancer, where the disease is limited to the Breast and has not yet spread to the surrounding tissues.
Stage I
Here the Cancer has spread and to the adjacent tissues and the size of the tumor is also up to 2 cm. But the lymph nodes are not yet involved here.
Stage II
This stage is further subdivided in to Stage II A and Stage II B.
Stage II A Breast Cancer includes different developments like size of the tumor within 2-5 cm, or when the size of the tumor despite being smaller than 2 cm has spread to the axillary lymph nodes or it may include that stage where there is no sign of any cancer cell in the breast but the axillary lymph nodes have been affected.
StageII B is where the tumor size is between 2and 5 cm, and has already spilled on to the surrounding tissue. It also includes the tumor sizes above 5cm but has not yet spread to the surrounding tissue.
Stage III
This stage also has 3 other sub stages A, B, and C.
Stage III A
This is where there is no sign of any Cancer in the breast, but the disease has already spread in to the neighboring areas. The cancer cells are bundled together and are clutching on to the axillary lymph nodes or the sternum or in some case the size of the tumor is less than 5 cm and has already spread in to the neighboring areas. The cancer cells are bundled together and are clutching on to the axillary lymph nodes or the sternum or the size of the tumor is larger than 5 cm and has spread to the neighboring areas. The cancer cells are bundled together and are clutching on to the axillary lymph nodes or the sternum
Stage III B
This is where the tumor size is not important because all cancers where the wall of the chest and the skin over the breast has been involved, irrespective of the tumor size is classified under Stage III B. Also there might be lot of inflammatory changes with involvement of the axillary lymph nodes. The lymph nodes are usually adhered together with lot of involvement of the skin over the breast and also the lymph nodes below the breast.
Stage III C
This stage exclusively deals with invasion by the cancer cells. The size of the tumor is immaterial here, and there may or may not be any signs of cancer in the breast. The most significant feature is the involvement of the lymph nodes and lymphatics above the clavicle or the collar bone. This stage essentially deals with the attack on the lymph nodes of the chest or the axillae or even beyond the collar bone.
Stage IV:
This stage is the final full blown stage of the deadly disease. Here the cancer cells have crossed over the limiting boundaries and have reached distant far off places. There may not be any sign of disease in the breast itself, but the Kidneys, Liver or the bones may be affected.
Based on these major guidelines, the breast cancer is usually further classified into many different descriptions like an early stage, denoting the Stage I, Stage II and early Stage III, whereas the late stages, may signify a late Stage III and Stage IV.
TREATMENT:
The various options for breast cancer treatment are as listed out here:
o Chemotherapy
o Hormonal therapy
o Breast Surgery-Lumpectomy / Mastectomy.
o Radiotherapy
o Targeted therapies
o Alternative and Holistic treatments
o Clinical trials- involving trial on patients using a new therapy
The Guidelines For Breast Cancer Treatment
