The very fact that a person is diagnosed with breast cancer can certainly have
an adverse effect on the mind of that person. But what is more frightening is
when the person learns that it is advance stage of breast cancer. However,
cancer patients can now be given a relief of hope due to the availability of
advanced breast cancer treatments. If the patient is made to realize that there
are treatments available towards those types of cancers then this fact will
bring increase hope of survival to these cancer patient victims and their mental
state of mind will become positive and the treatment will be thus be effective
enough.
It is a known fact that the survival chances towards advanced
breast cancer is much lower than a breast cancer that is detected at stage one.
Mostly, cancer patients who undergo first diagnosis (SEER) are found to have
advance breast cancer which has spread to distant tissue. This type of situation
is common among poverty based people and who have lack of health insurance. A
patient suffering form advance breast cancer (Stage 4 breast cancer) has less
chances of the body to have the ability to fight off the diseases. This is
because by now the disease have spread far away into the body and the natural
defense system is thus weakened breast cancer at stage , the survival rate is
very high, about 98% to 100%. However, a woman who is diagnosed with advance
breast cancer, the survival rate may come down to sixteen to twenty percent
approximately.
These days we have advance breast
cancer treatments which are being used. Also, more new treatments towards
advance breast cancer are being developed. However, one should understand that
stage 4 is the most deadly category of breast cancer. Advance breast cancer has
metastasized to other distant organs of the body which include the bone tissue,
lung tissue and the liver too. The test done to detect is in the form of chest X
Rays, CT and bone scans. Almost all types of breast cancer victims have to
undergo some type of surgery in order to remove the cancerous growth as much as
possible. They also undergo chemotherapy too. This is done in order to kill of
any microscopic scraps of the disease that may have left behind and if it is
left untreated, it can then grow again and will lead to full fledged cancer
again. Thus, advance techniques are also been used towards breast cancer
treatment. The treatment is done in such a way so that it not only eliminates
cancer but also prevents re-occurring of cancer.
There is yet another
type of advance breast cancer and it is called as inflammatory breast cancer.
Initially, there is some redness and warmth like thing in the skin of the cancer
affected breast, often without any lump. The skin turns red because the cancer
lies in the lymph vessels of the skin. Hence, the patient along with the doctor
might consider it as a simple infection and thus may try to treat with
antibiotics. But as time passes, it neither gets better nor worse too. Hence,
the doctor now decides for a biopsy of the underlying tissue to detect if it is
cancer. Even when mastectomy is done, there are chances of recurrence in the
skin. Hence, chemotherapy should be the treatment that should be opted before
any local treatment is administered. Inflammatory breast cancer is a serious
disease. Usually in advance breast cancer, chemotherapy is suggested with three
or four rounds of Adriamcin and Cytoxan. Also, Taxol or Taxotere can be used .
After this, local treatment can be followed in the form of mastectomy.
One of the advance breast cancer treatments is in the form of a drug
called Herceptin (Trastuzumab). This drug has been very effective towards
certain types of advance breast cancers. A patient who has HER2 positive is
suffering from a type of advance cancer, can be treated by Herceptin along with
the chemotherapy drug called paclitaxel. HERZ is defined as human epidermal
growth factor receptor 2. HERZ is located on the surface of cells and it is
responsible for maintaining the growth of the cell in check. When HERZ starts to
malfunction, it will then lead to cancer which starts working in an aggressive
manner. People who are suffering from advance breast cancer and who undergoes
such advance treatments, can hope for survival. However, I would like to advice
people that earlier detection of cancer can help a patient to recover
completely.
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