IF YOU ARE DIAGNOSED WITH BREAST CANCER
If you’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer in any way, please don’t panic. Believe me, there are very effective treatments at every stage.
There are four stages of breast cancer and five pathological types. They often determine the course of the disease (prognosis), but to understand this in more detail, please consult your primary doctor (the primary physician is usually we breast surgeons). The treatment process can take several months, with the exception of hormonal therapy, and is completed by successive treatments to be applied by several areas of expertise. In this process, mutual trust is very important. It would be a good idea if you could consult several doctors at the stage of your illness and treatment planning. Modern cancer treatment is planned with multidisciplinary missions. It is undoubtedly very important that the doctors in these missions are informed, update their knowledge and, more importantly, work in harmony with each other and have a sound judgment. It is very important to be accessible during the treatment process.
In other words, the ideal thing is to be able to reach out to your doctor whenever you get stuck in the process or have a problem with treatment. In surgery, in chemotherapy, in medical oncology, in radiation therapy, I think it’s very important to reach radiotherapy (if necessary).
The first two stages are defined as early breast cancer and immediately always starts with surgery.
After surgical treatment, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are added when wound healing is complete. The sequence of treatment, or the need for treatment to be administered, is largely decided by the branch concerned, but the disciplines reach appropriate treatment judgment through mutual consultation at these stages. The tumor is examined regardless of the initial stage, whether or not the body has spread. While PET-BT is usually used at this stage, it is a suitable method for triple scanning (pulmonary tomography, bone synthography, and abdominal sonography).
Stage 3 usually starts with chemotherapy as a systemic treatment, continues with surgery after treatment response is received, and finally radiotherapy after wound healing. Most of the time, phase 3 goes back to phase 1 and 2. One patient who has receded to stage 1 has the same survival rate as the other original stage 1 patients. The surgeries performed similarly in other early-stage patients. The same procedures applies in patients with Stage 4. Sometimes tumor cannot be found surgical specimens (please discuss every progression with your surgeon)