In addition to surgical treatment, chemotherapy is another treatment option that is available to many breast cancer patients. Chemotherapy is a systemic therapy, meaning that the medication is administered either intravenously or orally. Oftentimes this type of treatment is used to reduce the size of a tumor prior to surgical treatment so that the patient can opt for a lumpectomy instead of undergoing a mastectomy. This type of chemotherapy treatment is referred to as neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is also used as an adjuvant therapy, meaning that it is used to help reduce one's chances of developing breast cancer after surgery has been performed. If radiation therapy is going to be used in addition to chemotherapy, radiation therapy does not usually begin until the chemotherapy has been stopped.
When chemotherapy treatment is administered, it is done so in cycles that will usually last approximately 3 weeks each cycle. Each treatment cycle will be followed by a recovery cycle to allow the patient's body time to recover from the side effects of the chemotherapy treatment. The duration of a normal course of chemotherapy treatment will usually last approximately six months. Some experts believe that increasing the frequency of the chemotherapy treatments may work better to prevent a recurrence of breast cancer in the future.
Anti-cancer chemotherapy drugs are usually administered as cocktails, meaning that multiple chemotherapy drugs are combined to increase the treatment's effectiveness. Some of the most common drug combinations used in the treatment of breast cancer include CMF, CAF, AC, AC with Taxol, CMF, and a mixture of Cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, and fluorouracil. Vinorelbine, gemcitabine and capecitabine are drugs that are also used in the treatment of breast cancer.
While chemotherapy is usually used in combination with surgical treatment, at times it may be used as the sole breast cancer treatment. This often occurs when a patient's cancer has spread beyond the breast or has shown increased growth since the initial treatments. How long this process will take will be determined by each individual's specific circumstances.
Side effects are commonplace with chemotherapy treatments. Exactly which side effects a patient will experience will be largely determined by how long their chemotherapy treatment continues, how much medication they are given, and what types of medication are administered. General side effects of chemotherapy treatment include fatigue, nausea, vomiting, hair loss, mouth sores, weight loss, and loss of appetite. Some women will experience an alteration of their menstrual cycle, but whether or not the menstrual change is permanent will not be known until treatment is over. It is also common for chemotherapy patients to experience an increased risk of infection due to the lowered blood cell counts caused by chemo. Luckily, there are a number of medications on the market that can help combat the side effects associated with this type of treatment.
Some more serious complications associated with chemotherapy include damage to the ovaries causing an inability to have children, premature menopause, increased risk of osteoporosis, heart damage, a decrease in memory or concentration, and in extremely rare cases, acute myeloid leukemia. While these potential side effects may initially appear alarming, it is important to remember that they are not common and any possible risk is far outweighed by the benefits that chemotherapy offers.
Sometimes chemotherapy will be combined with other treatments, such as autologous bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cell support. This procedure involves taking a patient's stem cells from circulating blood or bone marrow prior to a high-dose chemotherapy treatment and then reinstating it into the body after the chemotherapy treatment has been completed. These cells will find the bone marrow and will eventually help the body resume the production of blood cells. This treatment is not commonly recommended and is still being researched. It is believed that using high-dose in combination with this treatment can cause even more severe side effects than just chemotherapy alone and that there really is no benefit to receiving high-dose chemotherapy.
Each patient will respond differently to chemotherapy treatment and which chemotherapy medications are used for a specific individual will be determined by that person's medical history and the specifics of their breast cancer diagnosis.
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