Breast Lumps/Cancer

Any of the following can be a symptom of breast cancer — a rapidly growing breast lump or pain in the breast lump or blood in nipple discharge or breast skin dimpling such lumps are to be examined by a general surgeon and to be investigated thoroughly and surgery has to be planned immediately. Tratment for breast cancer is multi-modal including surgery,chemotherapy,radio-therapy or hormonal therapy.

The goals of breast cancer surgery are to remove the cancerous tissue and to analyze it for type, grade, size, hormonal status, and possible metastasis (if the cancer has spread). There are both diagnostic and therapeutic surgeries, as well as reconstruction options.

Breast cancer is usually treated with surgery and then possibly with chemotherapy or radiation, or both. Hormone positive cancers are treated with long term hormone blocking therapy. Treatments are given with increasing aggressiveness according to the prognosis and risk of recurrence.

Stage 1 cancers (and DCIS) have an excellent prognosis and are generally treated with lumpectomy and sometimes radiation. HER2+ cancers should be treated with the trastuzumab (Herceptin) regime, chemotherapy is uncommon for other types of stage 1 cancers.

Stage 2 and 3 cancers with a progressively poorer prognosis and greater risk of recurrence are generally treated with surgery (lumpectomy or mastectomy with or without lymph node removal), chemotherapy (plus trastuzumab for HER2+ cancers) and sometimes radiation (particularly following large cancers, multiple positive nodes or lumpectomy).

Stage 4, metastatic cancer, (i.e. spread to distant sites) has poor prognosis and is managed by various combination of all treatments from surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and targeted therapies. 10 year survival rate is 5% without treatment and 10% with optimal treatment.