Treatment

Treatment

The earlier breast cancer is detected, the higher the chances of complete and successful treatment. This may involve:

	Surgery – this removes the cancer and some surrounding normal tissue to ensure a margin of safety. There are two ways of doing this: Lumpectomy – only a small or affected section of the breast is removed. Mastectomy – here, all the breast tissue is removed. With this type of treatment, a woman can opt to have breast reconstruction to surgically rebuild the breast.
	Radiotherapy – high-powered x-ray waves are directed at the cancer site and surrounding tissue to help destroy any remaining cancer cells.
	Chemotherapy – this requires the use of drugs or hormonal therapy to help destroy any remaining cancer cells.

To achieve the best outcome, doctors sometimes recommend a combination of therapies.