Wednesday 31st October 2018

After diagnosis and counselling by the Consultant Breast Surgeon, treatment is quickly planned for the patient. Each person undergoes an individual journey through breast cancer treatment depending on their specific case and personal preference. The decisions made about your treatment will be made with you involved. The majority of patients will go through one or more of the following treatments:

 

Surgery: The affected breast tissue is removed by surgical excision. A safe margin of healthy tissue is removed surrounding the cancer. This prevents involved cancerous tissue being left in the breast and re-growing.

Radiotherapy: Can occur before, during or after surgery. Radiotherapy uses controlled and targeted x-rays to shrink the cancer and/or destroy any remaining cancer cells after surgical intervention.

Chemotherapy: Can occur before or after surgery. It is a tailored mixture of anti-cancer drugs. The aim is to destroy cancer cells in the body by stopping the cells dividing and multiplying.  

Hormone Therapy: If a cancer is stimulated by oestrogen, hormone therapy (or endocrine therapy) is used to block the oestrogen to prevent it from stimulating the growth.

Targeted Therapy: If a cancer has high levels of HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2), it will be treated with targeted therapy (also called biological therapy). This blocks the growth of this specific type of breast cancer.

 

If you have any questions about your cancer treatment or have been diagnosed elsewhere and would like a second opinion, you can contact our team at The Harley Street Breast Clinic. We can book you in to see one of our Consultant Breast Surgeons to discuss your many treatment options.