Is surgery always needed to treat breast cancer?
The time just after receiving a diagnosis of breast cancer can be frightening and confusing. Whether you choose to work with a nurse navigator or not, you’ll be looking into treatment options and trying to plan for what comes next. You may wonder, is surgery always needed to treat breast cancer? Are there ways to treat breast cancer where surgery can be avoided?
Breast surgeon Niru Anne, MD, offered some answers on when surgery is the best option for breast cancer and what types of surgery may be utilized to treat the disease.
Is surgery always needed to treat breast cancer?
“For early stage breast cancers, surgery remains the standard of care and often one of the first steps in a patient’s treatment plan,” said Dr. Anne.
For stages I and II, surgical therapy is offered, usually along with radiation if needed to control and hopefully prevent the growth of cancer within the breast. Chemotherapy, which offers a less targeted and more system-wide treatment, is based on the subtype of tumor and chance of the cancer recurring.
Is stage IV breast cancer treated with surgery?
“Whether or not surgery is the right choice as a treatment for stage IV breast cancer is still debated by oncologists, surgeons and other medical professionals,” said Dr. Anne.
Some physicians believe surgery should be offered, as they believe the primary tumor in the breast could be encouraging the cancer’s spread, and that removing the cancer in the breast may help.
Others believe that stage IV breast cancer is a nonsurgical condition. These physicians believe that there is no benefit to performing surgery.
What kinds of breast cancer surgeries are there?
“The different types of surgery for breast cancer are a lumpectomy, also known as breast conservation and a mastectomy or removal of the breast,” said Dr. Anne.
What surgical options will be most helpful is individualized to each and every patient. A multi-disciplinary team of experts looks through the patient’s medical history, imaging and pathology to create an individualized treatment plan.
How is it decided if a breast cancer patient needs surgery or not?
“I would never say that surgery is ever definitively the answer, or that it isn’t,” said Dr. Anne. “Every patient is different, and we take into account each and every individual’s history, existing medical conditions, before we make any decision.”
After your initial cancer diagnosis, your treatment team will work with you on understanding the need for certain kinds of treatment and why, including your current stage of cancer, what options are available and which will be most effective in your unique case.
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