Transcript

So, the first treatment is surgery. The commonest surgery in this day and age is a lumpectomy or partial mastectomy, they really mean the same thing, and what’s called a sentinel lymph node biopsy. That’s standard. Now, sometimes a patient will have a total mastectomy instead of a lumpectomy, and that’s usually a decision made by the surgeon, but sometimes it’s a patient preference. And instead of a sentinel lymph node biopsy, a patient may have an axillary node dissection, and that’s usually because of the number of involved lymph nodes. So, that’s the surgery.

The next step is the decision whether or not the patient will have radiotherapy. That, again, is a local treatment, and that’s usually made by the radiotherapist or radiation oncologist. That is only if it is felt that the patient would benefit from this treatment, it’s not usually a patient preference.

Then, there’s the matter of medical chemotherapy. That’s what I do. Again, this treatment is offered to the patient if it is felt that this treatment is going to reduce metastasis and prolong survival. The decision to offer chemotherapy depends on many factors. So, it’s not just whether the patient has positive lymph nodes or not, so I’m not going to go into all the details at this point.

Then there’s endocrine therapy or hormonal therapy. It’s a little more simple. If the patient’s cancer is positive for hormone receptors such as estrogen or progesterone receptors then usually the patient is offered endocrine therapy.

You know, sometimes the decisions are made by the physician and sometimes patients have a preference for treatment. So, again, this is usually a discussion that goes on between the patient and the physician. But usually, a physician won’t give a treatment that’s not indicated. But a patient of course always has a right to decline to have a specific treatment.

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