According to information from the Mayo Clinic, breast cancer is the second-most common cancer diagnosed in women within the United States. Surgery to remove all or a portion of the breast is one common treatment for breast cancer, known as a lumpectomy (when removing the cancerous lump itself) or a mastectomy (when removing the breast). Following the successful completion of a lumpectomy, radiation therapy is often performed to ensure that all of the cancerous tissue has been destroyed.
Instructions
1. Consult with your supervising physician to determine whether you are in the class of individuals who can benefit from radiation therapy following a lumpectomy. According to information from BreastCancer.org, radiation therapy cannot be used following a lumpectomy where (1) you have already had radiation to the same breast, (2) you are suffering from a connective tissue disease (3) you are currently pregnant or (4) your schedule makes daily radiation therapy impracticable.
2. Have a frank discussion with your supervising physician to establish the expected benefits and cost of radiation therapy following a lumpectomy. Understand that there can be both long and short term side effects from radiation therapy, including fatigue, nausea, an increased risk of developing other types of cancer in the future, and a potential adverse effect to your lungs and heart. Discuss all of these concerns beforehand so you do not have any regrets down the line after experiencing radiation therapy following a lumpectomy.
3. Engage in a five to seven week course of radiation therapy. This will consist of daily to semi-daily applications of external radiation to the affected area. The goal of radiation therapy is to bombard the affected area with high energy radioactive waves, damaging the genetic material of the cancerous cells, rendering them unable to continue reproducing. This treatment is fairly effective -- according to a pair of studies published in the October 2002 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the recurrence rate for breast cancer following a lumpectomy and radiation therapy was 14 percent or less.
Tags: radiation therapy, following lumpectomy, breast cancer, radiation therapy following, therapy following
