Radiation Therapy For Breast Cancer

[Cancer Treatment FL]

This treatment is to destroy any cancer cells that may have escaped surgical removal. Radiation is routinely administered after a simple mastectomy and a lumpectomy, or if numerous lymph nodes have been affected. It is also prescribed for recurring or inoperable cancer, and to alleviate the pain of advanced cancer. Typically, radiation treatments are begun two or three weeks after the surgery, or after the scar has healed and the woman has regained the use of her arm. Immediate side effects include blistering of the skin and fatigue. Later, the skin exposed to the radiation may darken, thicken, and lack sensitivity if any nerve endings have been damaged. Long term complications may include impaired lung function due to scar tissue, an increased risk of heart disease, and easy fracturing of the ribs. Chemotherapy. Studies indicate that chemotherapy greatly increases long term survival, even for women with localized stage I cancer.

The side effects loss of hair, nausea, reduced immunity to infections, mouth sores, fatigue, and bleeding problems are temporary, but still very trying. For this reason, chemotherapy may not be recommended for an older woman, especially if her cancer is localized. Hormone Therapy. Cancer specialists now believe that almost all breast cancer patients can benefit from hormone therapy, even if their tumors are not the type stimulated by estrogen or proges terone. Thmoxifen (Nolvadex), a drug that blocks estrogen, is the treatment of choice. It has fewer side effects than anticancer drugs, although it may cause hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms in younger women. Other, more radical approaches to hormone manipulation include ovarian ablation, a procedure in which the ovaries are either surgically removed or destroyed by chemicals or radiation, and perhaps the removal of other hormone producing glands.


FL Cancer Hospital Kidney Cancer Treatment FL