Breast Cancer Prevention and Treatment: Multidisciplinary Approaches
Techniques such as imaging, pathology, surgery, radiation oncology, and medical oncology have decreased breast cancer mortality rates.What other preventative methods, treatment techniques, and alternative therapies exist that have not been fully explored?
Have previous studies using tamoxifen to prevent invasive breast cancer in high-risk patients effectively measured its effect on overall survival?How Can I Prevent Breast Cancer?
Your diet can play an important role in breast cancer prevention. Dietary fats may increase your risk of developing breast cancer, and fruits, vegetables, and grains may help to reduce the risk. It’s a good idea to make whole-milk dairy products, meat, and foods fried at high temperatures only occasional treats rather than staples. You can enliven your menus by sampling different kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables and basing new dishes on whole grains and legumes. This way, you’re bound to get plenty of fiber, along with vitamins and minerals thought to protect against breast cancer, specifically vitamins C, A, D, and E, and calcium, selenium, and iodine. Some doctors recommend that breast cancer patients take antioxidant supplements.
How is it treated?
Most people who have breast cancer have surgery to remove the cancer. The surgeon may also take out some or all of the lymph nodes under your arm to find out if the cancer has spread to this area. After surgery, you may have radiation therapy to destroy cancer cells. You may also get chemotherapy or hormone therapy. These are powerful medicines that travel through your body to kill cancer cells. You might have radiation, chemotherapy, or hormone therapy before surgery to help shrink the cancer.
Barriers to Early Diagnosis and Treatment
Cultural and socioeconomic circumstances may predispose African Americans to higher mortality rates due to limited access to screening, early detection and treatment of breast cancer.
Cultural beliefs and fear of radiation were also associated with preventing some African American women from seeking cancer screening.