How is Breast Cancer Treated?

There are lots of ways breast cancer can be treated.

• There is more than one sort of breast cancer and different types may involve having different treatments.
• Primary breast cancer is breast cancer that has not spread outside the breast or the glands under your arm. The glands under your arm are called lymph nodes.
• Breast cancer can grow at different speeds. Some breast cancers grow quite quickly, others more slowly.
• Breast cancer can be found at different stages of growing. For example, when it is only inside the breast. Or when it has spread from your breast to the lymph nodes under your arm.

Types of treatments for primary breast cancer
Surgery: One or more operations.
Radiotherapy: X-rays to kill breast cancer cells.
Hormone therapy: Drugs to stop your hormones from helping the cancer to grow.
Chemotherapy: Drugs to kill breast cancer cells.
Targeted therapy: Drugs to try to stop cancer cells growing.
Bisophosphonates: Drugs to try to stop cancer cells from spreading.

You may be offered more than one of the treatments on the list above. The order in which treatments are given may also vary depending on the type of cancer you have.
You will meet experts from different backgrounds at different stages of your treatment. This specialist group of healthcare professionals form the treatment or multi-disciplinary team.

Who is in a treatment/multi-disciplinary team?
Breast care nurses: All people diagnosed with breast cancer are allocated a breast care nurse specialist. She is there to give you support and advice.
Breast cancer surgeons: Doctors who are experts in breast cancer operations.
Chemotherapy nurses: Nurses trained to give cancer drugs.
Research nurses: Nurses who are trained to give additional support and advice on participating in a variety of research studies.
Clinical oncologists: Doctors who are experts in radiotherapy and/or cancer drugs.
Medical oncologists: Doctors who are experts in cancer drugs.
Oncoplastic surgeons: Breast cancer surgeons with training in plastic surgery.
Pathologists: Doctors who are experts in finding out more about breast cancer using a microscope.
Radiologists: Doctors who are experts in different ways of looking for breast cancer, such as using x-rays or ultrasound waves.

How are my treatments decided?
To decide which treatment will be best for you, your team will do some tests and checks on the cancer.

These will find out:
• What sort of breast cancer you have
• How fast it is growing
• What size it is
• What might be helping it to grow.

All cancer cases and test results are then discussed by the multi-disciplinary team (MDT). They offer individualised advice for each patient based on their specific cancer and general health and decide which treatments they believe will be best for you. You can decide how much you want to be involved in making choices about your treatment. Talk to your treatment team about this when they tell you which treatments they are suggesting for you.

How do I make choices about my treatments?
• Some people want to be very involved in making choices about their treatment and want to know everything about their breast cancer.
• Some people want to leave the choices about treatment to the treatment team and want to know everything about their breast cancer.
• Some people want to leave the choices to the treatment team and to know very little about their breast cancer.

Everybody is different and you can change your mind about this at any time while you are being treated.

How much time do I have to make my decisions about my treatments?
If you need to take a few days to make up your mind about the treatments you are being offered, that is OK.
A short delay will not make your breast cancer more difficult to treat.
Some people like to take the time to talk it through with their breast care nurse, family, friends, research nurse or GP.

Do I have to have treatment?
Sometimes people choose not to have a treatment that has been suggested for them because of what they believe in. Sometimes people are afraid that the treatments won’t work or will be too difficult to cope with.
If you feel like this, you can talk about it with your breast care nurse, treatment team or your GP. They will be able to tell you what is likely to happen with your breast cancer if you do not have treatment.
You can also call specialist charities such as Breast Cancer Care to talk it through.
They will give you as much information and support as you need to make your decision.
If you decide not to have the treatment suggested, your treatment team can still support you.

How will I feel when my hospital treatment is finished?
When you have finished your hospital treatment, all sorts of feelings can come up. Not everyone is the same but many people find this is a difficult time.

Some common feelings are listed below:
• Shock about what has happened.
• Worries about the cancer coming back.
• Worries about how to get back to a normal life.
• Worries about how to cope with permanent changes to your body.
• Worries about how to cope with changes to your relationships.
These feelings, changes and concerns can take a long time to settle.

If you would like to talk about your breast cancer and how you are feeling, you can talk to your breast care nurse.
You can also call Breast Cancer Care free for support and information on 0808 800 6000.

Other Relevant Advice and Information

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