2 Categories Of Breast Cancer Treatment
by Charlie Berry
Many people have been personally affected by breast cancer. This type of cancer can wreak havoc on the emotional and financial health of the patient being treated, as well as the patient's friends and family members.
Researchers have spent a lot of time and effort developing treatment protocols that are designed to help eliminate cancer cells from the body. Breast cancer treatments can be broken down into two basic categories: local and systemic.
Understanding the differences between these two treatment categories will empower you to feel more confident in the treatment plan your doctor has developed after you receive a breast cancer diagnosis.
1. Local Treatment Options
Some of the treatment options available to breast cancer patients are considered local treatments. A local treatment is any approach that addresses the tumor itself. Tumors form when cancer cells cause healthy cells inside the body to replicate at an excessive rate.
Surgery is the most popular local treatment option for breast cancer. A skilled surgeon can physically remove the tumor. Surgery is typically followed by a secondary local treatment: radiation. Radiation helps to target any errant cancer cells that may have been missed by the surgeon during the tumor removal.
Local treatments are used during the early stages of breast cancer treatment before the cancer cells have an opportunity to spread outside of the breast tissue.
2. Systemic Treatment Options
If cancer cells have spread outside the breast tissue (a process doctors refer to as metastasizing), systemic treatments are required. Systemic treatments target the entire body.
Cancer cells located throughout the body are targeted via oral medications or medications administered directly into the bloodstream. Chemotherapy is the most widely known systemic treatment used to address breast cancer, but there are several other systemic approaches that your doctor may utilize to help trigger remission.
Hormone therapy and immunotherapy are two additional systemic treatments that have helped many breast cancer patients achieve remission.
New treatments for breast cancer are being developed all the time. As research continues to evolve, more and more breast cancer patients are able to achieve remission and extend their lives.
All treatment options can be categorized as either local or systemic. Both approaches have merit, and your doctor will utilize whichever treatment category makes sense based on the pervasiveness of your breast cancer.
Be prepared to undergo both local and systemic treatments as part of your battle against breast cancer.
Share
About Me
I used to be skeptical about chiropractic healing. However, that was before I tried it for myself. I was in an accident that did serious damage to my back. I followed all of the doctor’s recommendations, did my physical therapy, and still didn’t feel any better. That was when I finally decided to try going to my friend’s chiropractor. It was such a relief when I finally started to feel better thanks to the great chiropractic care I received. That’s when I decided to start researching chiropractic care and how it could be used to treat different conditions. This blog contains the results of that research. If you’re looking for a way to feel better, you too may benefit from chiropractic healing. These articles will help you learn how.