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4 treatment settings, 2 with more than one named option. Each section lays out the options the standard of care names, what each is for, the trials behind them with their recorded results, the side effects and cautions on record, and questions to ask. Built from the cancer page's standard-of-care rows; nothing here is advice for your case.
Punch or wedge biopsy of the nipple for any eczema-like change not settling within a few weeks, with bilateral mammography and breast MRI to map the disease behind it.
Histopathology means looking at cancer cells under a microscope, and immunohistochemistry stains them for specific proteins. Together they are still the foundation of every diagnosis.
Low-dose breast X-ray used for screening. Newer 3D versions find more cancers with fewer false alarms.
MRI uses a strong magnet and radio waves, with no ionising radiation, to picture soft tissue in finer contrast than CT, so it is the standard scan for brain tumours, prostate, rectal cancer staging, liver lesions and breast screening in high-risk women. It is slow, expensive and blurred by movement.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Central breast-conserving surgery removing the nipple-areola complex and underlying tumour with clear margins followed by whole-breast radiotherapy, or mastectomy for extensive or multicentric disease.
Fewer, larger daily doses instead of the classic five to seven weeks of small ones. Large trials in breast and prostate cancer showed the same control with the same or fewer late effects and far less time in hospital.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Sentinel node biopsy when invasive carcinoma is present or when mastectomy is planned; not needed for Paget disease with in situ disease treated by breast conservation.
Removing just the first lymph node a tumour drains to, instead of all of them, to check for spread.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.
Determined by the underlying carcinoma: endocrine therapy, chemotherapy and HER2-directed treatment on the same criteria as other breast cancers.
The original targeted cancer drug (1977): a pill that blocks oestrogen's effect on breast cancer and halves recurrence, still essential for premenopausal women.
The first targeted antibody for a solid tumour (1998), which turned HER2-positive breast cancer from the worst subtype into one of the most treatable.
No trial record is attached to this row yet. The trials tab lists what is recruiting and the landmark trials for this cancer.
Add these to your appointment list, or take the full question set for this cancer.