Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is caused due to a malignant tumor that develops from breast cells. There are different types of treatment for breast cancer like radiation therapy, biological therapy, surgical therapy, chemotherapy etc. Doctors have been able to develop staging systems to categorize the extent of cancerous growth and develop treatment methods accordingly. Depending on the extent of spread of the cancer and its type there are various treatment options available like surgery, mastectomy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy and chemotherapy.
Different stages are involved in different therapy. Chemotherapy means use of drugs to kill cancer cells. This therapy is recommended by doctors for people suffering from inoperable IIIC or stage IIIB cancer. Inoperable IIIC type of cancer cannot be treated with a surgery and Stage IIIB cancer is a cancer which is inflammatory. It’s a systemic therapy, which means it could affect the entire body as the drug passes through the blood stream.
While treating breast cancer with chemotherapy, a combination of various drugs is used. The drugs could be administered either through pills or injections. This way the drug can enter the bloodstream and can reach all parts of the body. This way it not only targets the cancerous tumor but also those parts where the cancer might have spread. Chemotherapy can be done on women with breast cancer in a hospital, clinic or at home. Few patients might need to be hospitalized during the course.
With the advancement in science and research being carried around worldwide there has been a marked reduction in side effects of chemotherapy today as compared to few years ago. Still there are certain side effects of chemotherapy but these basically depend upon the dosage and the type of drugs. These drugs attack rapidly dividing cells like cancer cells. But they can also harm other rapidly dividing cells in the body. Few healthy cell types that suffer the side effects of chemotherapy are as follows:
- Blood cells: These protect the body from micro organism thus providing immunity, help in clotting of blood, and carrying oxygen to all body parts. Side effects of chemotherapy are reduction in immunity against infections, prolonged time to heal wounds, nausea and fatigue. Few women might also develop leukemia or blood cancer due to prolonged chemotherapy.
- Hair-root cells: Chemotherapy could result in hair loss. The patient’s hair will grow however it might show a different texture and color.
- Inner lining of digestive tract: Chemotherapy might lead to poor appetite, diarrhea, vomiting, nausea or lip and mouth sores.
- Bone cells: Chemotherapy might affect the bone cells and lead to osteoporosis.
A doctor can suggest ways to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy. Apart from these there are other contra indications of chemotherapy like numbness or tingling sensation in feet or hands. The problem generally stops once treatment is discontinued. In some women drugs used for treating breast cancer might weaken the heart. Few drugs might cause damage to the ovaries. Hormone production by ovaries might cease. Menstrual periods might be irregular or stop completely. Some symptoms of menopause like hot flashes and dryness of vagina may appear. Some women might loose their fertility. For women over 35 years of age this could be permanent.
On the other hand, a woman might remain fertile while undergoing chemotherapy and might also able to conceive later. Further studies are needed to identify the side of effects of chemotherapy on an unborn child. A doctor should be consulted for birth control before starting chemotherapy.
Each person’s chemotherapy regimen is unique and no two people will react the same way to one treatment. Every person is suggested a tailor made treatment plan depending on various cancer factors like, size of tumor, lymph node involvement, grade, oncogene expression and hormone receptor status.
Depending on the advancement of the breast cancer chemotherapy is used to achieve various goals:
- Curing of cancer
- Keeping a control check on cancer so that it does not spread to the other parts of the body
- Reliving the symptoms of cancer such as pain, so that patient can live more contentedly.
There are times when the only chemotherapy is to be given to the patient depending on the stage of cancer that he suffers but this treatment can also be given with the combination of other therapies like surgical, radiation etc. Chemotherapy when used before radiation or surgical therapy helps the tumor shrink. This is also defined as neo-adjuvant therapy. When this therapy is used after the surgical radiation therapy it’s called adjuvant therapy. It destroys any cancer cells that remain after the above procedures. In fact it helps in making biological and radiation therapy work better and destroys any reoccurrences of cancer cells.
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