Friday, August 1, 2008

New Breast Cancer Treatments

By Roselyn Capen

When it comes to treating breast cancer there are more than a few options. There are many options that people can choose to help fight their cancer. For every stage of breast cancer, you can consider three types of treatment.

Breast cancer is usually diagnosed through some form of surgery, like a biopsy, which is concerned specifically with specific parts or the body, and in this case, with the breast or lymph nodes. Once it is diagnosed for certain, two very effective surgeries can be used for treating it. Mastectomy, which includes removal of the entire breast, and partial mastectomy, which entails with removal of a part of the breast. These surgeries are most effective when the malignant tumor is small and the cancer has not spread out. Also, for women who had large tumors, which have shrunken due to chemotherapy, partial mastectomy is a great option.

Systemic therapy is good in order to get rid of any cells that may have spread to other parts of the body. If the cancer has spread and has formed tumors elsewhere this treatment can help shrink the cancer and hopefully lead to a remission, which would be ideal for everyone.

This treatment is mainly decided by the characteristics of the cancer. The more aggressive the caner is then it will have a higher risk of spreading outside that area and into other areas where treatment can be harder to do.

Treatments are administered in various manners. For breast cancer, oral treatment, along with injectibles, are prevalent in treatments today. A very effective therapy, Chemotherapy, kills cancerous cells, and can be taken either orally or injected. Another therapy, called the Immune therapy, makes the body produce antibodies by introducing a foreign article, and the body fights back, reacting to the foreign invasion. This is much like the flu shots work. However, this is widely unknown and not used much on grounds of being new.

Unconventional methods such as yoga asana, acupuncture, massages, intake of herbal remedies, chiropractic, are also in practice. A lot of people suffering from breast cancer claim to get "healed" for the simple reason that these practices help make the body healthier and enable it to fight the ailment itself. They feel rejuvenated during the course of the action, and forget their ailment. There is nothing to lose trying these Complementary therapies, and just a healthier body to gain.

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