Breast Cancer Treatment. What is the role of radiation therapy?

A woman who has breast cancer is most concerned about two questions – how to avoid relapse and how the breast will look after treatment. Experts say that today you can successfully treat this disease and, at the same time, maintain the beauty of the female breast.

How to treat breast cancer

Surgery is not the only treatment. In breast cancer, it is combined with chemotherapy, radiation therapy and antihormonal treatment (with a hormone-dependent tumor). If before the removal of the entire breast was considered the safest, today, in the early stages, sectoral resection (partial removal) is used. When there is no metastasis, removal of the tumor alone is more appropriate than mastectomy (complete removal).

The relationship between surgery and radiation in this case is very important. Radiotherapy supplementation reduces the risk of relapse. In addition, for an effective result, irradiation of the entire mammary gland is not always required..

“What are women afraid of going to the oncologist?” Lose your femininity. But the task of treatment is not radicalism. Where you can save, we try not only to save, but even improve the shape of the breast. Where it is impossible, we are trying to reconstruct. There are different situations, depending on the volume of removal and the size of the breast itself. There should be an individual approach, ”says the head of the Center for Contemporary Mammology LISOD

It turns out that 85% of relapses occur in the bed of the primary tumor, which was removed. So why irradiate the entire chest? This understanding led to the fact that using different methods – external or through the introduction of isotopes – they began to irradiate precisely the tumor bed. The effectiveness of treatment for this has not decreased.

Radiation therapy for breast cancer

Oncologists examined the long-term results of treatment, in cases of complete and partial removal, in women in the early stages. There is no evidence that amputation of the breast is more effective than removal of only the area of ​​the tumor, followed by radiation therapy. At the same time, survival after excision and irradiation of only part of the breast is higher than after mastectomy. But in the case of partial removal, not only the breast is preserved, but also there is the opportunity to simultaneously improve its shape and appearance.

The safety of radiation therapy is much higher than a few years ago. Even at the stage of diagnosis, a team of radiologists very accurately determines the shape and location of the tumor. Three-dimensional planning (3D) allows you to clearly direct the rays to the formation or bed of the tumor after its removal. Healthy tissues suffer minimally.

The modernization of equipment has led to more accurate radiation therapy. This allows you to better fulfill the main goals of radiotherapy. Now the equipment allows you to be sure that the target receives the entire dose that is prescribed, and healthy surrounding tissues received a minimum dose of radiation.

Now all stages of treatment for breast cancer are being improved. In each case, the patient may be offered different treatment options. Modern approaches are aimed at preserving the mammary gland and oncoplastic surgery without risking safety. Radiation therapy is a method that reduces the risk of relapse and allows women not to lose attractiveness..