How Do They Treat Stage 1 Breast Cancer

Stage Iii: Locally Advanced

• References

Locally advanced breast cancer includes tumors larger than 5 cm, extensive regional lymph node involvement, direct involvement of underlying chest wall or skin, tumors considered inoperable but without distant metastases, and inflammatory breast cancer. Induction chemotherapy followed by local therapy is becoming the standard of care. Five-year survival can be achieved in 55 percent of patients presenting with noninflammatory LABC.54 The most important prognostic factors are response to induction chemotherapy and lymph node status.

Does A Benign Breast Condition Mean That I Have A Higher Risk Of Getting Breast Cancer

Benign breast conditions rarely increase your risk of breast cancer. Some women have biopsies that show a condition called hyperplasia . This condition increases your risk only slightly.

When the biopsy shows hyperplasia and abnormal cells, which is a condition called atypical hyperplasia, your risk of breast cancer increases somewhat more. Atypical hyperplasia occurs in about 5% of benign breast biopsies.

Breast Examination After Treatment For Breast Cancer

After surgery

The incision line may be thick, raised, red and possibly tender for several months after surgery. Remember to examine the entire incision line.

If there is redness in areas away from the scar, contact your physician. It is not unusual to experience brief discomforts and sensations in the breast or nipple area .

At first, you may not know how to interpret what you feel, but soon you will become familiar with what is now normal for you.

After breast reconstruction

Following breast reconstruction, breast examination for the reconstructed breast is done exactly the same way as for the natural breast. If an implant was used for the reconstruction, press firmly inward at the edges of the implant to feel the ribs beneath. If your own tissue was used for the reconstruction, understand that you may feel some numbness and tightness in your breast. In time, some feeling in your breasts may return.

After radiation therapy

After radiation therapy, you may notice some changes in the breast tissue. The breast may look red or sunburned and may become irritated or inflamed. Once therapy is stopped, the redness will disappear and the breast will become less inflamed or irritated. At times, the skin can become more inflamed for a few days after treatment and then gradually improve after a few weeks. The pores in the skin over the breast also may become larger than usual.

What to do

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If A Loved One Declines Treatment

If someone you care about has chosen not to continue their cancer treatment, be as supportive as you can. She may have already been met with resistance from her doctors and those closest to her. If her mind is made up, it wonât help to add your voice to the debate.

If she is still struggling with her decision, offer to listen and help her sort through the options. Ask if sheâd like you to join her at her next doctorâs appointment to help her get the answers she needs.

Speaking with a therapist yourself can help you cope with any feelings you are having about a loved oneâs decision, which may range from shock to anger to sadness. This is all normal, but is something you will need to proactively work to overcome for everyoneâs benefit.

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Biomarker Testing Is Used To Find Out Whether Breast Cancer Cells Have Certain Receptors

Healthy breast cells, and some breast cancer cells, have receptors that attach to the hormonesestrogen and progesterone. These hormones are needed for healthy cells, and some breast cancer cells, to grow and divide. To check for these biomarkers, samples of tissue containing breast cancer cells are removed during a biopsy or surgery. The samples are tested in a laboratory to see whether the breast cancer cells have estrogen or progesterone receptors.

Another type of receptor that is found on the surface of all breast cancer cells is called HER2. HER2 receptors are needed for the breast cancer cells to grow and divide.

For breast cancer, biomarker testing includes the following:

Sometimes the breast cancer cells will be described as triple negative or triple positive.

• Triple negative. If the breast cancer cells do not have estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, or a larger than normal amount of HER2 receptors, the cancer cells are called triple negative.
• Triple positive. If the breast cancer cells do have estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and a larger than normal amount of HER2 receptors, the cancer cells are called triple positive.

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Survival And Time To Surgery

A 2016 study published in JAMA Oncology looked at data from over 115,000 people via the National Cancer Database . This study included people age 18 and older who were cared for at Commission on Cancer-accredited cancer centers across the United States.

All of the people had early stage breast cancer with surgery as their first treatment. They then looked at wait times to surgery and survival rates at five different intervals: a wait of less than 30 days, a wait time of 31 to 60 days, a wait time of 61 to 90 days, a wait time of 91 to 120 days, and a wait time of 121 to 180 days.

They found that for each 30-day interval of delay, survival rates decreased for people with stage I and stage II breast cancer. The conclusion was that although time is needed to discuss treatment options and prepare, earlier surgery is better.

Time To Chemotherapy After Surgery

After surgery for early-stage breast cancer, many women also have adjuvant chemotherapy .

The period of time between surgery and chemotherapy depends somewhat on how well someone does with surgery since the surgical site needs to be relatively well-healed before chemotherapy begins. But once the incision are healed, what is the optimal time to begin this treatment?

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The Grading System Is Used To Describe How Quickly A Breast Tumor Is Likely To Grow And Spread

The grading system describes a tumor based on how abnormal the cancer cells and tissue look under a microscope and how quickly the cancer cells are likely to grow and spread. Low-grade cancer cells look more like normal cells and tend to grow and spread more slowly than high-grade cancer cells. To describe how abnormal the cancer cells and tissue are, the pathologist will assess the following three features:

• How much of the tumor tissue has normal breast ducts.
• The size and shape of the nuclei in the tumor cells.
• How many dividing cells are present, which is a measure of how fast the tumor cells are growing and dividing.

For each feature, the pathologist assigns a score of 1 to 3 a score of 1 means the cells and tumor tissue look the most like normal cells and tissue, and a score of 3 means the cells and tissue look the most abnormal. The scores for each feature are added together to get a total score between 3 and 9.

Three grades are possible:

• Total score of 3 to 5: G1 .
• Total score of 6 to 7: G2 .
• Total score of 8 to 9: G3 .

What Are Hormones And Hormone Receptors

Hormones are substances that function as chemical messengers in the body. They affect the actions of cells and tissues at various locations in the body, often reaching their targets through the bloodstream.

The hormones estrogen and progesterone are produced by the ovaries in premenopausal women and by some other tissues, including fat and skin, in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women and in men. Estrogen promotes the development and maintenance of female sex characteristics and the growth of long bones. Progesterone plays a role in the menstrual cycle and pregnancy.

Estrogen and progesterone also promote the growth of some breast cancers, which are called hormone-sensitive breast cancers. Hormone-sensitive breast cancer cells contain proteins called hormone receptors that become activated when hormones bind to them. The activated receptors cause changes in the expression of specific genes, which can stimulate cell growth.

Breast cancers that lack ERs are called ER negative, and if they lack both ER and PR they may be called HR negative.

Approximately 67%80% of breast cancers in women are ER positive . Approximately 90% of breast cancers in men are ER positive and approximately 80% are PR positive .

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Treatment Of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ

For information about the treatments listed below, see the Treatment Option Overview section.

• Breast-conserving surgery and radiation therapy, with or without tamoxifen.
• Total mastectomy with or without tamoxifen. Radiation therapy may also be given.

Use our clinical trial search to find NCI-supported cancer clinical trials that are accepting patients. You can search for trials based on the type of cancer, the age of the patient, and where the trials are being done. General information about clinical trials is also available.

What Else Do You Need To Make Your Decision

Check the facts

• No, it’s not a main treatment. Chemotherapy is an added treatment, a sort of insurance policy designed to kill any cancer cells that may still be in your body after surgery.
• You’re right. Chemotherapy is an added treatment, a sort of insurance policy designed to kill any cancer cells that may still be in your body after surgery.
• It may help to go back and read “Get the Facts.” Chemo is an added treatment, a sort of insurance policy designed to kill any cancer cells that may still be in your body after surgery.

• No, not every woman will need chemo. It depends on what type of breast cancer she has and how far it has spread.
• You’re right. Not every woman will need chemo. It depends on what type of breast cancer she has and how far it has spread.
• It may help to go back and read “Get the Facts.” Not every woman will need chemo. It depends on what type of breast cancer she has and how far it has spread.

• No, some women are not bothered by side effects. Your doctor can give you other medicines to help you deal with side effects like nausea and vomiting.
• That’s right. Some women are not bothered by side effects. Your doctor can give you other medicines to help you deal with side effects like nausea and vomiting.
• It may help to go back and read “Get the Facts.” Some women are not bothered by side effects.

• Increased chance of bruising, bleeding, and infection.
• Memory and concentration problems.

Long-term side effects of chemotherapy can include:

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Ovarian Ablation Or Suppression

In women who have not yet experienced the menopause, oestrogen is produced by the ovaries.

Ovarian ablation or suppression stops the ovaries working and producing oestrogen.

Ablation can be done using surgery or radiotherapy. It permanently stops the ovaries from working and means you’ll experience the menopause early.

Ovarian suppression involves using a medicine called goserelin, which is a luteinising hormone-releasing hormone agonist .

Your periods will stop while you’re taking it, although they should start again once your treatment is complete.

If you’re approaching the menopause , your periods may not start again after you stop taking goserelin.

Goserelin comes as an injection you have once a month.

What Are The Side Effects Of Hormone Therapy

The side effects of hormone therapy depend largely on the specific drug or the type of treatment . The benefits and harms of taking hormone therapy should be carefully weighed for each person. A common switching strategy used for adjuvant therapy, in which patients take tamoxifen for 2 or 3 years, followed by an aromatase inhibitor for 2 or 3 years, may yield the best balance of benefits and harms of these two types of hormone therapy .

Hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness are common side effects of all hormone therapies. Hormone therapy also may disrupt the menstrual cycle in premenopausal women.

Less common but serious side effects of hormone therapy drugs are listed below.

Tamoxifen

• Breathing problems, including painful breathing, shortness of breath, and cough
• Loss of appetite

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Stage 1 Or 2 Early Breast Cancer

Stage 1 and 2 breast cancer refers to invasive breast cancer that is contained within the breast, and may or may not have spread to the lymph nodes in the armpit. These stages are also known as early stage breast cancer.

At Stage 1 and 2, some cancer cells may have spread outside the breast and armpit area, but at this stage these cannot be detected.

Treatment Of Breast Cancer

KAREN L. MAUGHAN, MD MARK A. LUTTERBIE, MD and PETER S. HAM, MD, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia.

Am Fam Physician. 2010 Jun 1 81:1339-1346.

• References

Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer mortality in women in the United States.1 One in eight women will be diagnosed in her lifetime.2 Breast cancer treatments continue to evolve, and although family physicians do not generally make primary decisions about these therapies, understanding their rationale and underlying evidence can help with the care of their patients during and after cancer treatment. Table 1 lists the five-year survival prognosis for each stage of breast cancer.3,4

SORT: KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Breast-conserving surgery should be followed by radiation therapy in women with early-stage invasive or locally advanced breast cancer.

A = consistent, good-quality patient-oriented evidence B = inconsistent or limited-quality patient-oriented evidence C = consensus, disease-oriented evidence, usual practice, expert opinion, or case series. For information about the SORT evidence rating system, go to .

SORT: KEY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Breast-conserving surgery should be followed by radiation therapy in women with early-stage invasive or locally advanced breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Five-Year Survival by Stage at Diagnosis

Inflammatory breast cancer may be stage IIIb, IIIc, or IV.

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More Information About The Tnm Staging System

The T category describes the original tumor:

• TX means the tumor can’t be assessed.
• T0 means there isn’t any evidence of the primary tumor.
• Tis means the cancer is “in situ” .
• T1, T2, T3, T4: These numbers are based on the size of the tumor and the extent to which it has grown into neighboring breast tissue. The higher the T number, the larger the tumor and/or the more it may have grown into the breast tissue.

The N category describes whether or not the cancer has reached nearby lymph nodes:

• NX means the nearby lymph nodes can’t be assessed, for example, if they were previously removed.
• N0 means nearby lymph nodes do not contain cancer.
• N1, N2, N3: These numbers are based on the number of lymph nodes involved and how much cancer is found in them. The higher the N number, the greater the extent of the lymph node involvement.

The M category tells whether or not there is evidence that the cancer has traveled to other parts of the body:

• MX means metastasis can’t be assessed.
• M0 means there is no distant metastasis.
• M1 means that distant metastasis is present.

Outcomes Of Breast Cancer In Patients Who Use Alternative Therapies As Primary Treatment

This was a medical chart review by Chang et al, published in the American Journal of Surgery in 2006. It examined breast cancer patients who refused conventional chemotherapy, or delay its initiation, in order to use CAM. The authors calculated each patients prognosis at the time of diagnosis. In total, 33 women were included. The results were grim:

• Eleven patients initially refused surgery. Ten of these patients experienced progressive disease. Five ultimately had surgery. In the six others, the cancer had already metastasized, so surgery would have offered no benefit.
• Three patients refused to allow sampling of lymph nodes to evaluate disease spread. One of these patients developed recurrent disease in the lymph nodes.
• Ten patients refused local control of the tumor site. Two patients developed recurrences in the same location, and two developed metastatic disease.
• Nine patients refused chemotherapy, raising their estimated 10-year mortality from 17% to 25%

Consistent with the study above, the vast majority of breast cancer patients who refuse surgical intervention developed progressive disease. Even delaying surgery increased risks and overall mortality. Outcomes were better for patients that accepted surgery, but refused adjuvant treatments, like chemotherapy. However, even this strategy significantly raised 10-year mortality estimates.

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Four Stages Of The Disease

There are 4 breast cancer stages. Stage 1 breast cancer is a single tumor up to 2 cm in size, which has no regional metastases. They are located in lymph nodes, in close proximity to the affected organ in the armpit fossa. Can you die from stage 1 breast cancer? Highly unlikely! For first stage breast cancer, survival rate averages 95% and reaches 100% in some developed European countries. Those numbers also answer the which cancer is the most curable question. The most important thing here is to contact a specialist after noticing the first signs of the disease.

Stage 2 breast cancer is a small tumor, up to 2 cm or slightly larger, but often with single metastasis in the armpit fossa. The more cancer that is in the body, the more actively its harmful cells travel through the body. If stage one and stage zero are considered to be almost safe and can be easily cured, then from stage two onwards, the treatment will differ in its intensity and the measures used. At this stage, the probability of positive treatment is 60-70%. The main priority is timeliness and the use of progressive treatment methods. In the case of remote metastases being present, the situation and treatment can slightly aggravate the effectiveness of progress.

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