General Questions:

What is breast cancer?

Who gets breast cancer and what are the risk factors?

What are signs and symptoms of breast cancer, and how is it diagnosed?

Staging: What happens after diagnosis?

How do you treat breast cancer?

- Surgery (lumpectomy vs. mastectomy)

- Radiation Therapy (the basics)

    - External Beam Radiation including IMRT

    - Balloon Brachytherapy

    - Radiation after mastectomy

    - Side effects of breast radiation

- Chemotherapy or Hormone Therapy

How do I make an appointment to have radiation at ARC?

Other Breast Cancer/Radiation Related Topics:

Balloon Brachytherapy for Breast Cancer

The Radiation Treatment Process

There are many different ways that a woman can present with breast cancer. The most typical subjective sign is a palpable mass, that is either felt by the woman herself through a monthly breast self exam (BSE), or during a routing clinical breast exam (CBE). The most common medical sign is during a mammography, where an abnormal exam can often mean that a cancer has been detected.

Other presentations or symptoms that a woman might notice may be a change in the shape or contour of one breast, persistent redness, retraction of the nipple or skin of the breast, nipple discharge or skin thickening. Breast cancer in men usually presents as a palpable mass or nipple thickening or discharge.

If one of these signs or symptoms is noted, the next step is usually a mammogram either with or without ultrasound, which is also referred to as a sonogram. If the mammogram was the original detecting test, or if there is a palpable lesion, the next step could then be a biopsy, to assess whether the mass is or is not a cancer. Biopsies can be performed by either an interventional radiologist under ultrasound, mammographic or MRI guidance, or by a breast surgeon.

If a cancer is detected, referral to a breast surgeon is then warranted.

Next --> Staging: What happens after diagnosis?