The Main Ways To Treat Breast Cancer

Introduction

The female breast or mammary gland according to (Bland et al 2018) can be found around the interior and lateral part of woman chest and this is where milk is secreted for the infant development. It consists up to 15 to 20 lobes of glandular tissues and most of the breast malignancies develop from these ducts. (CancerQuest, 2019).

Breast cancer is the most common cancer disease in female in the United Kingdom(UK), one to nine will develop breast cancer in their lifetime and this has caused the disease to be the leading cause of death in women the UK. (Tobias and Hochhauser, 2015). According to NICE. (2013) incidence of women with breast cancer was strongly related to the age of women, with the highest occurrence in older women. Between 2008 and 2010 in the UK, Office of National Statistics. (2012) stated that an average of 45% of women diagnosed with breast disease was 65 years and over and over 80% were between the age of 50 years and over.

Early stage breast cancer according to Cancer Research UK is the breast cancer that is small in tumour size and its in the breast tissue or which can be found in the lymph nodes close to the breast.

Post-menopausal for women is the time when a woman stops having periods, this happens when the ovaries stop releasing eggs. The ovaries are the fundamental source of the hormone estrogen, so when they stop working, the level of estrogen in the body drops. (Breast Cancer Care, 2019).

Surgery

Surgery according to (cancerQuest) is the surgical removal of any cancerous growth with some healthy tissue during an operation. An early stage of breast cancer as stated by SIGN can be treated with surgical procedures, patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and invasive breast cancer can undergo breast conservation surgery (BCS) or lumpectomy and mastectomy.

Lumpectomy: This involves removing the entire tumour tissue and some margin of normal as stated by (England. nhs. uk, 2019) and to make sure the margins are tumour free. (Fisher et al. , 2002). The size of the tumour is one of the main indications that a patient is eligible for breast conservation surgery which is which has been limited to early-stage cancer. (Clark et al. , 1998)

Mastectomy: This, on the other hand, is the surgical removal of the entire breast. (SIGN, 2013). (Al-Ghazal. , et al 2000) stated that women who have a mastectomy can be offered a breast reconstruction which is a surgery to reconstruct a breast by using some tissue taken from another part of the body. (Cancer. Net, 2019). Immediate breast reconstruction according to (Malata. , 2000) in breast cancer patients is safe and acceptable after mastectomy. Breast reconstruction surgery can be done after mastectomy to make a new shape for the breast. This can be carried out at the same time as the mastectomy or can be carried out at a later time. ((Macmillan. org. uk, 2019).

Radiotherapy

Breast cancer patients with early invasive breast tumour who have had breast-conserving surgery (BCS) with clear margins should be considered for radiotherapy also as stated by (SIGN) external beam radiotherapy should be given to the conserved breast of all early breast cancer patients undergoing conservation surgery. It has also been recommended by ESMO UK that postoperative radiotherapy be given after surgery. Whole breast radiation therapy (WBRT) can reduce any first recurrence according to ESMO UK, this must be discussed with patient especially patients with high-grade ductal carcinoma in situ and explanation must be provided. On the other hand, partial breast radiotherapy can be considered for women who have had breast-conserving for invasive cancer which are over 50 years and over and they have a low risk of recurrence. (NICE, 2018). According to (Bartelink et al. , 2015) radiation therapy after patients have had breast-conserving surgery reduces the chances of the tumour recurrence and breast mortality by about a sixth.