The treatment for your breast cancer will be personal to you and depend on a number of factors.
| These may include: - type of breast cancer
- size of tumour
- stage of the cancer (whether it has spread)
- grade of the cancer (what the cells look like under the microscope)
- properties of the tumour cells (this can include characteristics that have been shown to be helpful in treatment selection, such as whether they have receptors for the female hormones oestrogen and progesterone. It could also include whether cells over-express certain proteins that have been linked with prognosis, such as HER2)
|
Treatment recommendations will take into account your age, general health and fitness.
The role of lymph nodes
Over 50 small lymph nodes are to be found in the armpit or axilla. These, the axial nodes, are seen to be one of the most important factors in determining the progress and staging of a particular breast cancer and the appropriate course of treatment. Normally during a biopsy, 5-10 of these will be removed and analysed for the presence of cancer cells. This procedure is referred to as a sampling of the axial nodes and the resultant information is sometimes referred to as the nodal status.
Lymph nodes are tiny structures about the size of a pea located throughout the body. They contain fighter cells that act as filters to protect the body against attack. Fluid and cells from organs of the body pass through the lymph node checkpoints and cancer cells can use the lymph node system to travel around the body.
If no cancer cells are present in the lymph nodes tested, the risk of recurrence of the breast cancer is lower and consequently less aggressive treatment is required. If cancer cells are present then more aggressive treatment is planned. This will include more extensive surgery with the removal of all the lymph nodes in the armpit near the breast in question. This is referred to as a clearance.
Removal of lymph nodes in the armpit can lead to complications such as chronic arm swelling (lymphoedema) and an increased risk of infection. The fewer lymph nodes removed, the smaller the chances of developing these complications.
Clinical trials are currently underway to develop means of identifying the sentinel node - the first lymph node under the armpit draining the breast. Being reliably able to identify and test this one node would allow the medical team to predict whether the cancer has spread into the lymph in a less intrusive way.
02/06/2009
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