What are the treatment options for breast cancer?

  There are 7 types of treatments for breast cancer, including surgery, radiation therapy, endocrine therapy, chemotherapy, molecular targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and Chinese herbal medicine, which are still effectively used in clinical practice.  (1) Surgery: For earlier stage breast cancer, it is a radical treatment, while for more advanced breast cancer, it is often used as a palliative treatment. Total mastectomy with axillary lymph node dissection and preservation of the pectoral muscle (i.e., modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer) is considered a contemporary standardized treatment for patients with stage I and II breast cancer. Breast-conserving surgery (i.e. local enlargement of the lump plus axillary lymph node dissection) and sentinel lymph node biopsy are gaining importance in the treatment of early-stage breast cancer, and have been replacing total mastectomy radical surgery in Europe and America.  (2) Radiation therapy: It is one of the main treatment methods for this disease and is a local treatment. Radiation therapy is used for: ① radical radiation therapy; ② preoperative and postoperative adjuvant therapy; ③ palliative radiation therapy. Breast-conserving surgery must be supplemented with local radiotherapy.  (3) Endocrine therapy: surgical resection and radiation therapy can achieve the purpose of radical treatment, while endocrine therapy, on the growth and regression of breast cancer, has a controlling effect. About 1/3 of patients with advanced breast cancer can achieve remission or partial remission with ovarian, adrenal or pituitary resection. The use of anti-estrogen drugs or aromatase inhibitor drugs, etc., can achieve remission or partial remission in patients with positive estrogen receptors and/or progesterone receptors.  (4) Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy has become an aggressive treatment for all stages of breast cancer disease. In early stage cases, adjuvant chemotherapy is given after radical surgery, which can improve the cure rate; in advanced cases, chemotherapy combined with other treatments can also help to relieve the disease and prolong survival. Breast cancer is more sensitive to chemotherapy. It is more suitable for menopausal women with positive lymph node signs.  (5) Molecular targeted therapy: With the rapid development of molecular biology of breast cancer, molecular targeted drugs are expected to become another new class of drugs and may become the main direction of breast cancer drug research in the future.  (6) Immunotherapy: For many years, people have been exploring the application of immunological methods to treat breast cancer. From the theoretical point of view, immunotherapy is the most specific, damaging only tumor cells and not normal cells, and the therapeutic effect is systemic, which is suitable for treating non-limited tumors. So far, although many attempts have been made, none of them has achieved the expected effect.  (7) Traditional Chinese medicine treatment: Traditional Chinese medicine has special features in treating tumors. For all breast cancer patients, regardless of whether they undergo postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy, they should take traditional Chinese medicine to support the righteousness and dispel the evil and enhance their own anti-cancer ability. When chemotherapy and radiotherapy are carried out, together with Chinese medicine treatment can reduce toxic side effects and enhance the anti-cancer effect.