Breast Cancer Radiation | Radiation Treatment For Breast Cancer

About Breast Cancer

If you have been diagnosed, you may be wondering…what is breast cancer? It is the most common cancer diagnosed in women, affecting nearly one in eight women during their lifetimes. Breast cancer forms when normal cells that make up different parts of the breast tissue become malignant. Early detection in the last few decades has shifted the stage that breast cancer is typically diagnosed into a much earlier one, and advances in treatments such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy have made great strides in improving survival rates.

The physicians at Advanced Radiation Centers of New York are experts in the radiation treatment for breast cancer with radiotherapy. They are pioneers in the New York Metropolitan area in using advanced technologies such as Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) and partial breast balloon brachytherapy (PBI) to attain improved outcomes with decreased side effects for their patients.

What is Breast Cancer?

Breast cancer is an abnormal growth of cells that were once normal breast tissue cells. If these cells stay within the duct itself, the cancer is called a Ductal Carcinoma In-Situ, or DCIS. If the malignant cells poke through to the outside of the duct, into the surrounding breast tissue, this is called an Invasive or Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma. When abnormal cells of the lobules invade into the breast tissue, it is called an Invasive or Infiltrating Lobular Carcinoma.

Signs & Symptoms

There are many different ways that a woman can present with breast cancer. What is 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 routine clinical breast exam (CBE). The most common medical sign is during a mammography, where an abnormal exam can often mean that 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 cancer. To determine if breast cancer treatment is required, biopsies are 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. Depending on the diagnosis, breast cancer treatment, such as radiation therapy for breast cancer, generally begins.