Breast cancer refers to a malignant tumor that has formed from cells in the breast. It usually starts in the cells of the lobules or the ducts. The lobules are milk-producing glands and ducts are passages where milk travels from lobules to nipple. This type of cancer is always caused by genetic abnormality, but only 5-10% of them are inherited from a mother or father. The other 90% of breast cancers are caused by the abnormalities from aging and the process of life in general.
While there are several steps to keep your body as healthy as possible, breast cancer cannot be helped or is anyone’s fault. There are treatments for every type and stage of breast cancer. Most patients will have surgery and an additional therapy such as chemotherapy or radiation.
In the last few years, there have been so many life-saving treatment advances against breast cancer. Instead of only one or two options, there are now many treatments choices for each individual patient with cancer.
1. Surgery. Most patients will have surgery to remove the cancer. Some of the lymph nodes under the arm are taken out. Breast-conserving surgery removes the cancer but not the breast. This type of surgery includes lumpectomy (removal of the tumor and a small amount of tissue around it) and partial mastectomy (removal of part of the breast that has cancer and some tissue surrounding it). Other types of surgery include: total mastectomy, modified mastectomy and radical mastectomy.
2. Radiation therapy. This treatment uses high-energy x-rays or radiation to kill the cancer cells or stop them from growing. The two types of this therapy are external and internal radiation. The way radiation is administered is based on the type and stage of the cancer being treated.
3. Chemotherapy. This treatment uses drugs to stop the cancer cells from growing. This is taken either my mouth or given by injection into a muscle or vein. The way chemotherapy is given is also determined by the type and stage of the cancer.
4. Hormone therapy. This treatment removes hormones or stops their action and stops cancer cells from growing. Hormones are produced by the body’s glands and circulated throughout the blood stream. Some hormones cause certain cancers to grow. There are tests that will show where hormones will attach to drugs or radiation and then drugs are used to stop or slow production.
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Is their a product and/or method to get ones hair thicker and fuller after treatment for breast cancer?My wife is recovering from breast cancer and has been cancer free for 2 years, but her hair did not grow back as she would have hoped. She has tried many products. Would like to receive some suggestions from ladies that have experienced this first hand.
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Shane Fallas -
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Radiation was the toughest of treatments for my wife and she at the time of treatment was 52 years old. Radiation kills the tumor at the site where cancer was discovered, it is sort of insurance that it will destroy whatever cells would be left at the site.
Chemotherapy destroys the cells that might have escaped to other parts of the body, surgery removes the tumor itself and radiation is applied to the site to destroy remaining cells.
Treatment is usually over a specific amount of time that is on a daily basis, and it was very painful for us. Not everyone responds to radiation the same way. I have heard from others that it was a walk in the park. For us it was hell.
It could be physically too much for her, the only person to know for sure is her radiation oncologist and regular doctor. A friend of mine had breast cancer at 65 years old and did not have it again for ten years. At 75 years old she decided to not have treatment because she did not want to suffer through it all again.
Each person needs to evaluate if the costs are worth the price of the goods received. I know what radiation did to my wife but she is considerably younger than your grandma. The treatment for her could be the straw that breaks her back. The doctor's need to give an evaluation to decide if it is something she can handle.