SearchExclusive.com

Everything You Need To Know About Chemotherapy For Breast Cancer

Everything you need to know about chemotherapy for breast cancer
Chemotherapy is a cancer treatment where anti-cancer drug combinations are infused to destroy cancerous cells in the body. It holds back the ability of the cancerous cells to grow and divide. There are several drugs used in chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. The combination of drugs is specific to the stage and location of the cancer. Below is some information to better understand breast cancer, its stages, and chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer.

What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer is a cancer that is caused by the growth of cancerous cells in the breasts of women.
It usually leads to a formation of a lump in the breasts, changes in their shape, and nipple discharge.
Risk factors for this disease include obesity, lack of exercise, dense breasts, genetic mutations, etc.
The chance of breast cancer increases as women get older.
The amount of chemo for breast cancer varies depending on the stage of cancer the patient is suffering from.

When are the stages of breast cancer?

Stage 0 – At this stage breast cancer is curable. Early treatment can control the spread of breast cancer. Generally, the doctors remove the cancerous cells from the breast by performing a surgery. This is followed by a radiation therapy for breast cancer, where heavy X-rays are used to destroy cancerous cells and stop them from spreading. Radiation therapy for breast cancer can lower the risk of recurrence.
Stage 1 – At this point, cancer grows as big as 2 centimeters or less. Stage 1A and 1B are both considered as fast-spreading breast cancers. Surgery is done based on three factors- personal preference, the size and the location of the primary tumor, and genetic predisposition. In stage 1, hormone therapy is recommended regardless of the size of the tumor. Chemo treatment for breast cancer is not needed during stage 1, especially if it can be cured by using hormone therapy.
Stage 2 – In stage 2A, the tumor is either approximately 2 centimeters big and spread up to 3 lymph nodes or 2 to 5 centimeters big without affecting lymph nodes. In stage 2B, the tumor is between 2 and 5 centimeters and has not affected the lymph nodes. A combination of treatment is used at this stage. The treatment begins with a surgery and then radiation treatment for breast cancer kills remaining cancerous cells in the lymph nodes and chest. A systemic chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer is done using powerful drugs to destroy cells throughout the body.
Stage 3 – Stage 3A means the cancerous cells are enlarged to 5 centimeters in size and have spread from 4 to 9 axillary lymph nodes. In stage 3B, the breast cancer invades the chest wall and skin. Stage 3C means the cancer is spreading to 10 or more lymph nodes, internal mammary nodes, or lymph nodes near the collarbone. Treatment for stage 3 cancer is similar to that for stage 2.
Stage 4 – This stage means that the breast cancer has spread to vital parts of the body like the brain, the lungs, the bones, and the liver. It gets metastasized, making it incurable. Depending on the advancement of the breast cancer, numerous treatments and therapies that stops the protein that supports cancer to grow can be taken up.

What are the common signs of breast cancer?
Some of the signs and symptoms associated with breast cancer are:

Lumps in the breast.
Fever that crosses 100.4 F.
A swollen tongue, any new mouth sores or patches, and bleeding gums.
A cough that causes mucus.
A scratchy, burning, swollen or dry throat.
Burning when urinating, needing to urinate more often, and/or blood in the urine.
Nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, and blood in the stools.

What are the most common drugs used for treating breast cancer?

Platinum agents (cisplatin, carboplatin)
Anthracyclines (Doxorubicin, pegylated liposomal doxorubicin, and Epirubicin)
Taxanes
Vinorelbine (Navelbine)
Gemcitabine (Gemzar)
Capecitabine (Xeloda)
Eribulin (Halaven)
Ixabepilone (Ixempra)

What is included in the chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer?

If the patient is being given chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer in the form of tablets, the patient is often given the medicines to take home. The medicines need to be taken regularly for a set period of time along with regular check-ups.
If the treatment isn’t through oral medication, the patient needs to visit the hospital for the chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer routinely. During the first phase of the chemotherapy, breast cancer patients need to stay in the hospital for a few days.
Chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer destroys healthy cells along with the cancerous ones. This leads to numerous uncomfortable side effects like reduced immunity, nausea, hair loss, etc. However, these side effects tend to disappear soon after the treatment comes to an end.

Related Reading

Tips for Buying the Best Dog Food

Most of the dogs do not have a food fuss and may eat almost anything that you feed them. Dogs are not choosy at all when it comes to food and nutrition. Hence, it is important to make sure that the food that you are purchasing for your dog is healthy. The landscape of dog food has been developing by leaps and bounds in recent times. There is a wide variety of options to choose from in the online and offline market. Given the wide range of options that are available today, buying the best dog food might seem to be a confusing task indeed. All the commercial pet food that is available in the market today is regulated by the FDA. Therefore, most of the products do contain nutritious, healthy, and safe ingredients. But it does help to know certain basic factors you should look for while buying food for your dog. Prioritize on the nutritional guarantee The best dog food, which meets the dog’s needs adequately has a statement written on the label of the product, from the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Buy from some of the best dog food brands, such as Fromm Family Foods, Earthborn Holistic, Nature’s Variety Instinct, and The Honest Kitchen.

Different Types of Kitchen Cabinets Available for Your Home

The most important aspect when designing your kitchen is deciding on the type of cabinets. In addition to functionality, kitchen cabinets score on aesthetics as well. Once the layout is planned, you can go ahead with choosing the cabinets. If you’re remodeling your home or just the kitchen, what you need to consider are the types of cabinets that furnish your kitchen. Here are a few types of kitchen cabinets that you can choose from. Base cabinets These kitchen cabinets are mounted on the floor and they are placed after checking out the floor plan. A major part of your job in the kitchen is on these base cabinets, which hold and support the countertops. These base cabinets are combined to carve out kitchen islands. A number of base cabinets are fused/set against one another and installed on site. The base cabinets, in addition to supporting the countertops, serve as drawers to hold your cutlery and appliances. Wall cabinets Mounted on the walls, these cabinets can store everything, right from your cookware to cookbooks. In terms of design, they offer utmost flexibility. Wall cabinet kitchen is available in varying heights, multiple widths, and custom depth options. This customization helps you to fit in your stuff of varying shapes and sizes into the wall cabinets.

How to Pick the Right Dog Food for a Sensitive Stomach

In today’s world, where you are presented with over a dozen choices for every item you would purchase for your own kitchen, it is not surprising that you have an equal number of options for your dog’s food. However, choosing the perfect brand and formula for your dog out of a range of options in the market is not an easy job. Your pet depends on you and trusts you to make the right choice for them. Therefore, it is imperative that you do your research about the products available in the market, understand what your dog needs, know what might be your pet’s problems, and then make a sound decision. What is a sensitive stomach? Dogs are known to have voracious and large appetites. Keeping that in mind, it is normal to assume that they have strong stomachs. They can eat close to anything be it sweets, bakes, chewy gum, hard leather or even woolen socks for that matter! It always so happens that the strongest of them are prone to allergies and can develop a disorder which is medically translated as a sensitive stomach. This might be due to a sudden change in the food habits or even due an infection picked up from somewhere.

All You Need to Know about Cat Food

For cat owners, cat food is a hot topic. You need to think about it in different aspects. The best thing is to know which ingredients are good for cat food and which are harmful. If you are aware of this, you can get an idea about the quality of the cat food just by going through the label. It is always sensible to stick to one brand of cat food. However, you may also want to try and prepare cat food yourself. There are also various options for wet cat food as well. Cat’s love for fish is universal, so you can do without going for expensive cat food. Nevertheless, whether you buy it or prepare cat food at home, you need to ensure that the food contains enough nutrition and calories. You would need to have some idea about the ingredients that must be present in cat food and make a worthy selection for your cat. Basic ingredients present in good cat foods Cats need a variety of nutrients to stay healthy and active; they need various vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, and oils. The following is a brief explanation of the basic ingredients that should be present in cat foods.