isease occurs late in life, may be due merely to chance. Breast cancer is so common that random nonhereditary breast tumors may appear in more than one member of your family. It doesn't necessarily mean that your family members have inherited an abnormal gene that predisposes them to cancer.There are treatments for all patients with breast cancer. Four types of treatment are used: Surgery (taking out the cancer in an operation) Radiation therapy (using high-dose x-rays to kill cancer cells) Chemotherapy (using drugs to kill cancer cells) Hormone therapy (using drugs that change the way hormones work or taking out organs that make hormones, such as the ovaries) Biological therapy (using the body's immune system to fight cancer), bone marrow transplantation, and peripheral blood stem cell transplantation are being tested in clinical trials. Most patients with breast cancer choose to have surgery to remove the cancer from the breast. Some of the lymph nodes under the arm are also taken out and looked at under a microscope to see if there are any cancer cells. Different types of operations used: Surgery to conserve the breast: Lumpectomy (sometimes called excisional biopsy or wide excision) is the removal of the lump in the breast and some of the tissue around it. It is usually followed by radiation therapy to the part of the breast that remains. Most doctors also take out some of the lymph nodes under the arm. Partial or segmental mastectomy is the removal of the cancer as well as some of the breast tissue around the tumor and the lining over the chest muscles below the tumor. Usually some of the lymph nodes under the arm are taken out. In most cases, radiation therapy follows. Other types of surgery: Total or simple mastectomy is the removal of the whole breast. Sometimes lymph nodes under the arm are also taken out. Modified radical mastectomy is the removal of the breast, many of the lymph nodes under the arm, the lining over the chest ...
