Monday, March 28, 2011

Stage 2 Breast Cancer Treatment Options

Stage 2 of the breast cancer is not a very advance stage of cancer.Breast cancer is a complicated and fatal disease but if it is diagnose in early stage so its treatment is not as much difficult as in advance stage.At this stage cancer hasn't reached  beyond the breast at all in some cases in nearby lymph nodes. At this stage many treatment can help.There is various options of treatment at this stag.At this stage Women mostly do well with a combination of treatments.These combination includes the following options.


Following are the treatment options of stage 2 breast cancer

Surgical procedure:surgical procedure is standard for breast cancer.Surgery for stage II breast cancers may consist of a mastectomy or lumpectomy.If the tumor is small so lumpectomy is effective for the removal of tumor.In this procedure tumor and some of the damage tissues are removed.For bigger tumor mastectomy is effective.In this procedure the entire breast is removed.At this stage after a mastectomy  may be there is a need of breast reconstruction.

Radiation therapy(Radio therapy):Radiation therapy is a grade of cancer treatment that account high levels of radiation to kill cancer cells or keep them from growing and dividing  while minimizing damage to healthy cells.Radiation therapy  also called radiotherapy.At this stage It can kill cancer cells that were missed during surgery.At stage II cancer patients who get mastecomy will also need radiation if the tumor is big.

Chemotherapy:At this stage chemotherapy mostly used after breast cancer surgery.This treatment can damage any remaining cancer cells that were missed in surgery.Chemotherapy can also used before surgery to minimize the size of tumor.If it works  the tumor could  then be small enough to removed in a lumpectomy.

Hormonal Therapy:Around two-thirds of women having breast cancer have tumors that contain estrogen receptors called ER-positive.This type of cancer rely upon the female hormone to grow.Hormonal therapy is a cancer treatment that abolishes hormones or blocks their action and stops cancer cells from building.Hormones are substances produced by glands in the body and circulated in the bloodstream.At this stage medicines can prevent the tumor from getting the hormone it needs to grow.These drugs include tamoxifen,aromatase,Lupron and Zoladex.


Few hormonal therapies for stage 2


Tamoxifen(In this therapy a pill named tamoxifen is use.Tamoxifen can be used in women of any age.Long-term use of this anti-estrogen drug has been found to reduce the chance of breast cancer re occurrence).

Aromatase Inhibitors(In this therapy aromatase inhibitors are use.Aromatase inhibitors are very  effective in treating breast cancer  both in early stage and advanced disease).

Arimidex (Chemical name anastrozole.Aromatase inhibitor used to treat estrogen receptor positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women).

Aromasin (Chemical name exemestane.It is used for women with early breast cancer after 2 to 3 years of tamoxifen treatment this medication is used to treat certain types of breast cancer like hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer).

Biological Therapy :Biological therapy is a new way of treating cancer.Biological therapy for breast cancer takes benefit of the body's own immune or hormonal system to act on cancer cells  while leaving healthy cells relatively intact.One strategy is to use antibodies to attack cancer cells or block their activities. An antibody is a protein that can attach to specific proteins in the body, called antigens. Antibodies can be natural or made artificially as well. It stops the harmful protein from making the cancer grow and makes chemotherapy more effective.

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