Breast cancer will affect roughly one out of every eight women, according to information from the medical website Medline Plus. There are a number of different treatments for breast cancer, ranging in scope and severity. One of the more extreme procedures for the wholesale elimination of breast cancer is removal of the breast, in whole or in part. This procedure is known as a mastectomy. Occasionally, cancer recurs even following a mastectomy, requiring an administration of an alternate treatment method.
Drug and Radiation Therapy
Consider the possibility of either drug therapy (chemotherapy) or radiation therapy as an alternative measure to treat breast cancer following a mastectomy. According to information from the breast cancer site BreastCancer.org, chemotherapy is the administration of poisonous drugs into the body to help destroy cancerous cells. While the healthy cells of the body will be affected somewhat by the drugs, the cancerous cells will be affected worse, as their faster metabolism means they will soak up a proportionately higher amount of the administered drugs. Side effects from this form of treatment include diarrhea, increased likelihood of infection, hair loss, difficulties conceiving or infertility, nausea and vomiting. Radiation therapy, on the other hand, consists of the administration of high-energy radioactive waves to damage the genetic material of the cancerous cells, leaving them unable to continue replicating. Unlike chemotherapy, whose side effects can be seen throughout the body, the side effects of radiation therapy are limited to the area in which it is applied. These include irritation to the skin, pain in the chest or armpit area, fatigue, heart problems (such as an increased likelihood of developing coronary artery disease in the future) and lung issues (e.g., impaired breathing capacity).
Hormonal Therapy
Consider hormonal therapy as another alternative measure to combat breast cancer following a mastectomy. According to Medline Plus, most breast cancers are hormone-dependent, which means that they thrive in the presence of the female sex hormone estrogen. Hormone therapy seeks to deprive the cancerous cells of access to estrogen by decreasing the amount of estrogen in the body or removing estrogen's ability to bind to breast tissue. In either case, this goal is accomplished through the use of prescription drugs--either SERMs (selective estrogen receptor modulators--acting to keep estrogen away from breast tissue) such as tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors (acting to reduce the amount of estrogen in the body) such as Arimidex.
Tags: cancerous cells, breast cancer, following mastectomy, alternative measure, amount estrogen
