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Breast Cancer Treatment

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AtlantiCare Cancer Care Institute

A diagnosis of breast cancer can feel overwhelming. But at AtlantiCare, we combine compassionate care with the most advanced technology available to help you fight the condition with confidence.

Treatment of breast cancer depends on many factors, including your overall health and wellness, the stage of cancer (early or advanced), hormone sensitivity of the tumor and your personal feelings about certain treatments and possible side effects. Our breast health team will work closely with you to determine the best plan, which may include taking part in a clinical trial. Your provider will tell you about any clinical trial for which you may be eligible and, if you choose to take part, a team of oncology and research-certified nurses will help you navigate the process from start to completion.

We focus on whole-person care, with a full range of cancer support services and your own nurse navigator to guide you throughout your journey.

Surgery

Surgery is the most common treatment for early breast cancer. Depending on your diagnosis, surgical options may include:

  • Lumpectomy, or breast-sparing surgery: Conserves as much of the healthy breast as possible during surgery.
  • Mastectomy, including nipple-sparing surgery: Removes all the breast tissue without removing the nipple or the dark skin around it (areola).
  • Breast reconstruction: Creates a breast shape using an artificial implant or your own tissue. You can have the procedure immediately following a mastectomy or lumpectomy or several months or years after.

Radiation Therapy

At AtlantiCare, you’ll benefit from innovative technologies that target breast cancer with greater accuracy and safety and with fewer side effects. These techniques allow our radiation oncologists to precisely focus  high doses of therapy to your tumor site, so you’ll spend less time undergoing treatments, with fewer sessions over a shorter period of time than you would with traditional radiation. Options include:

  • High-dose rate  (HDR) brachytherapy for breast. AtlantiCare is designated as a SAVI® Partial Breast Treatment Center of Excellence.
  • Linear accelerator image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) for breast.
  • RapidArc® Radiotherapy Technology, which delivers treatment in two minutes or less.
  • Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for solid-tumor cancers.
  • CyberKnife®, which can be used specifically for certain patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Medical Therapies

As part of our whole-body medical oncology program, we offer the latest and most effective chemotherapy options. While surgery and radiation therapy destroy or damage cancer cells in targeted areas, chemotherapy relies on powerful medications to eliminate cancer cells or slow their growth. Infusion services include:

  • Hormone  therapy: Uses medication to block the use of estrogen by the cancer cells, as some types of breast cancer rely on estrogen and/or progesterone to grow. These cells are referred to as “ hormone-receptor positive .” If a tumor is not deemed  hormone-receptor positive , then hormone therapy is not usually used.
  • Targeted therapy: Uses drugs to help stop cancer from growing and spreading by targeting specific genes or proteins found in cancer cells or blood vessel cells. Targeted therapy is typically used along with other treatments.
  • Immunotherapy: Uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer cells. Cancer cells are different from normal cells (they change quickly and don’t die normally), and immunotherapy drugs are designed to alert the immune system about these mutated cells so it can locate and destroy them.