Prognosis of recovery after surgical breast cancer surgery
The general fear of cancer results mainly from the fact that cancer cells can spread to other organs and multiply there, creating new products - metastases. The metastases created in this way are hardly removable foci. Even after successful local treatment, the disease is prone to relapse and is life-threatening.
Prognosis after surgical breast cancer surgery
The most important in the treatment of breast cancer is the earliest detection and correct first treatment of the cancer and its metastatic lesions in nearby lymph nodes - informs doc. dr hab. med. Maciej Krzakowski - NATIONAL SPECIALIST for General Oncology at the Oncology Center in Warsaw.
Various methods are used in the treatment of breast cancer:
Standard oncological therapies include: ♦ surgical procedures, ♦ radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormonotherapy, ♦ immunotherapy. All applied oncological therapy methods interfere destructively in the body - some less, others more. The most commonly used are several methods, simultaneously or sequentially. This, when and what we use, however, depends on a well-established diagnosis.
About 90% of breast cancer cases are malignant neoplasms from the epithelium of lobules and glands.
The prognosis and morphological features of the tumor, especially the degree of its malignancy, the stage of development, in particular the presence or absence of metastases in the axillary lymph nodes, as well as the number of lymph nodes involved.
It must be known that almost from the moment of its inception, the tumor releases its cells into the circulatory system.
Metastases arise as a result of adherence of tumor cells that migrate through the bloodstream to the vascular endothelium in numerous tissues and organs. Some cancer cells are attracted to specific sites. Others do not. For example, bone metastases are mainly observed in hormone-dependent breast cancers (in prostate cancer), but may also occur in other cancers.
In patients with more advanced cancer, the size of the tumor and the absence or presence of distant metastases are important for the success of treatment.
The larger the tumor, the more metastases, the more intense (aggressive) the therapy should be. In the early stages of breast cancer, the standard treatment is surgery performed using the Patey method, which means the surgical removal of the entire breast and axillary lymph nodes. The treatment is sometimes associated with complementary irradiation, which reduces the risk of local recurrence. In many cases, after the operation, supplementary chemotherapy or hormone therapy is used, which allows to reduce the risk of metastases.
In recent years, some women avoid removal of the whole breast, if the tumor is small and there is no indication of the existence of metastases to other areas.
With its diameter less than or equal to 1 cm and the corresponding morphology (so-called weak focal), only the tumor itself is removed - saving the breast. This procedure, known as tumorectomy, should be supplemented with radiation (radiotherapy), often with chemotherapy.
The question - what determines the health of a woman after removing a malignant breast cancer - the answer is complex.
The most important protection against cancer recurrence is a properly performed tumor removal operation. It is also important whether the tumor was small, non-multifocal and whether it has already metastasized or not.
It is also important that in the fight against metastases and recurrences of the disease, contemporary oncology has complementary treatment that increases the effectiveness of basic treatment.about.
It leads to additional protection against the recurrence of the disease.In breast cancer, it consists of chemotherapy and hormone replacement therapy.
Hormonal therapy is used for the so-called positive level of estrogen and progesterone receptors.
The effectiveness of hormonal treatment is related to the sensitivity of tumors to hormones. In patients with a hormone receptor positive (responsive to the hormone) - hormonal treatment is used, with the negative receptor - chemotherapy. This treatment has become a recognized, health-beneficial standard, because depending on the severity of the cancer, the increase in the percentage of cures is significant and ranges from 5 to 20%.
Undoubtedly one of the most difficult problems is the treatment of advanced cancer disease characterized by numerous metastases, especially metastases to internal organs.
In this situation, the surgery itself, and does not guarantee the elimination of cancer foci. Chemotherapy or hormone therapy is required. The treatment is then conservative and boils down to inhibiting the development of cancer. In addition, the so-called supportive therapy (antiemetics, analgesics and drugs that inhibit the development of bone metastases). Conducted along with basic treatment improves the effectiveness of cancer treatment and improves the quality of life of patients. For example, the treatment of bone metastases prevents such complications as pathological fractures or bone deformities and hypercalcemia (increased levels of calcium in the blood). Adjunctive therapy conducted in parallel with essential anticancer treatment will improve the quality of life.
It is metastases - new cancer centers originating from the primary tumor - that pose the greatest threat to further survival, not the primary tumor itself.
Realizing this fact is important for understanding that local treatment by surgery or radiotherapy will not completely protect against metastases. However, it is also important to remember that the most effective way to fight cancer is early diagnosis and therapy before metastasis occurs. Only then we have the highest probability of a complete cure. Remember that in 1 cm3 tumor can be up to 9 trillion (!) Of diseased cells that can move with blood and spread to other parts of the body creating so-called. tumor metastasis.
