Chemotherapy Vs Mastectomy

Treatments range from chemotherapy, hormone therapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy or surgery. Chemotherapy is a treatment of chemical substances that contain one or more anticancer drugs. Hormone therapy is when antagonists, drugs such as Lupron, are used to too treat the cancer patient. Radiation therapy is when high energy waves, such as x-rays, are used to destroy cancer cells. Targeted therapy is when specific drugs are used to target specific genes or proteins to stop the cancer from growing. Some treatments destroy or remove the disease within the breast, lymph nodes and other surrounding areas. There are two surgeries used when dealing with breast cancer a mastectomy and a lumpectomy. Mastectomy surgery is when the whole breast is removed. Usually after this surgery, a patient is able to undergo plastic surgery to get a …show more content…
Immediately after the breast is removed by a breast cancer surgeon, a plastic surgeon reconstructs the breast either with tissue from another location of the body, an implant or sometimes both. During one operation, nearly all of the work can be done and the patient can wake up with a rebuilt breast or breasts (Breast Reconstruction). Both the breast cancer surgery and plastic surgery teams must coordinate for this process to be effective and successful. A mastectomy may not always be possible if additional treatment is needed, such as radiation or chemotherapy. A surgeon will usually recommend waiting until after treatments are finished before starting reconstruction. Depending on the patient's circumstances, a surgeon may sometimes recommend doing part of the reconstruction immediately and then finishing the reconstruction after treatments are done. One type of mastectomy, the prophylactic, is always done immediately since this mastectomy reduces a high risk of breast cancer reconstruction. Lumpectomy surgery is when the tumor or tissues of surrounding area are