Gulf Coast Cancer Center

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Gulf Coast Cancer Center
1207 Azalea Place
Brewton, AL 36426
(251) 867-6544 phone
(251) 867-6658 fax

Treatment Options at Gulf Coast Cancer Centers

IGRT (image-guided radiation therapy) - This ground-breaking technology enables doctors to pin down the exact location of the tumor at the moment of treatment to deliver the radiation dose more precisely, in real-time, sparing healthy surrounding tissue. Gulf Coast Cancer Centers is currently one of only three area cancer treatment centers to offer this revolutionary technology.

IMRT (intensity modulated radiation therapy) - This advanced form of radiotherapy offered at Gulf Coast Cancer Centers selectively blocks portions of the radiation beam in order to attack only the affected area. By concentrating radiation on the actual tumor, oncologists and radiologists are able to drastically reduce side effects of the treatment.

Statistics - According to statistics from the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, other than skin cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women, after lung cancer. Almost 213,000 women in the United States were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in last year. And more than 40,000 women will die from the disease this year.

Risk Factors- While the exact cause of breast cancer is unknown, certain risk factors are linked to the disease.


.Uncontrollable risk factors, or those that can not be changed:


a. Gender: simply being a woman is the main risk for breast cancer.
b. Age: The chance of getting breast cancer goes up as a woman gets older.
c. Genetic risk factors: About 5 to 10 percent of breast cancers are linked to changes (mutations) in certain genes. The most common gene changes are those of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.
d. Family history: Breast cancer risk is higher among women whose close blood relatives have this disease.
e. Personal history of breast cancer: A woman with cancer in one breast has a greater chance of getting a new cancer in the other breast or in another part of the same breast.
f. Race: White women are slightly more likely to get breast cancer than are African-American women.
g. Abnormal breast biopsy: Certain types of abnormal biopsy results can be linked to a slightly higher risk of breast cancer.
h. Earlier breast radiation: Women who have had radiation treatment to the chest area (as treatment for another cancer) earlier in life have a greatly increased risk of breast cancer.
i. Menstrual periods: Women who began having periods early (before 12 years of age) or who went through the change of life (menopause) after the age of 55 have a slightly increased risk of breast cancer.
Other Risk Factors:


a. Not having children: Women who have had not had children, or who had their first child after age 30, have a slightly higher risk of breast cancer.
b. Birth control pills: Studies have found that women using birth control pills have a slightly greater risk of breast cancer than women who have never used them.
c. Postmenopausal hormone therapy (PHT; also called hormone replacement therapy): It has become clear that long-term use (several years or more) of combined PHT (estrogens together with progesterone) after menopause increases the risk of breast cancer as well as the risk of heart disease, blood clots and strokes.
d. Breast-feeding and pregnancy: Some studies have shown that breast-feeding slightly lowers breast cancer risk, especially if the breast-feeding lasts 1½ to 2 years.
e. Alcohol: Use of alcohol is clearly linked to a slightly increased risk of getting breast cancer.
f. Obesity and high-fat diets: Being overweight is linked to a higher risk of breast cancer, especially for women after change of life and if the weight gain took place during adulthood.
Early Detection
Finding Breast Cancer early is the best strategy for successful treatment.

Age 40 and Older
Mammogram and Clinical Breast Exam Yearly

Age 20-40
Clinical Breast Exam at least every three years

Starting at Age 20
Choose whether and how often to do Breast Self-Exam

Mammogram
A mammogram is today’s most effective way to detect breast cancer when lumps are too small to be felt or seen. It usually consists of two or more low-dose x-rays. Mammography is not painful, although it may feel slightly uncomfortable because the breast is compressed for a few moments.

Clinical Breast Exam (CBE)
A Clinical Breast Exam (CBE) is performed by your healthcare professional. It gives you a good opportunity to ask any questions you may have. If you choose to do breast self-exams, this is a good time to receive instruction. Have your CBE prior to a mammogram so any suspicious areas can be evaluated during the mammogram.

Breast Self-Exam (BSE)
Examining your breasts yourself is called a Breast Self-Exam (BSE). The American Cancer Society recommends that women in their 20s make the decision with information from their healthcare professional, about whether and how often to do BSE. However, many experts recommend doing a BSE monthly to increase your awareness of how your breasts normally feel and look, so any changes can be quickly detected and reported.

Procedure of diagnosis:
Biopsy Techniques:

A biopsy is done when other tests show that you might have breast cancer.
i. Stereotactic core needle biopsy: The needle is used to remove several cylinders of tissue. The biopsy is done with local anesthesia (the area is numbed) on an outpatient basis. There are also 2 new methods (Mammotone® and Advanced Breast Biopsy Method) that can be used to remove more tissue than a core biopsy.

ii. Guided needle biopsy: You remain on the CT scanning table while a radiologist advances a biopsy needle toward the location of the mass.

Sentinal Lymph Node Biopsy:


Sentinel lymph node biopsy: This is a way to look at the lymph nodes without having to remove all of them first.
Procedure-For this test, a radioactive substance and/or a dye are injected near the tumor. They are carried by the lymph system to the first (sentinel) node to receive lymph from the tumor. This lymph node is the one most likely to contain cancer cells if the cancer has spread. Once this node is found, it is removed and examined.

Other Treatment Options

Surgery- Most women with breast cancer have some type of surgery. Operations for local treatment include breast-conserving surgery, mastectomy, and axillary (armpit) lymph node sampling and removal.

Radiation therapy- is one of several treatments used to treat cancer by itself or in combination with other forms of treatment. Also called radiotherapy, radiation therapy can kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. More than half of all cancer patients receive some radiation therapy as part of their treatment, and is given either externally, through external beam radiation, or increasingly through internally, with techniques such as brachytherapy.

Chemotherapy is treatment with cancer-killing drugs that may be given intravenously (injected into a vein) or by mouth. The drugs travel through the bloodstream to reach cancer cells in most parts of the body. Chemotherapy may also be recommended based on the size of the tumor, grade of the tumor, and presence or absence of lymph node involvement.

Hormonal Therapy- is another form of adjuvant systemic therapy. The hormone estrogen is produced mainly by a woman's ovaries until menopause. After menopause it is made mostly in the body's fat tissue, where a testosterone-like hormone made by the adrenal gland is converted into estrogen. Estrogen promotes the growth of about two-thirds of breast cancers (those containing estrogen or progesterone receptors and called hormone receptor positive cancers). Because of this, several approaches to blocking the effect of estrogen or lowering estrogen levels are used to treat breast cancer.

Biologic Therapy- is used to boost the body's immune system to fight against cancer; interferon is one example. Biologic therapy uses treatments that promote or support the body's immune system response to a disease.

Prevention
Women at average risk for breast cancer might reduce her risk somewhat by changing those risk factors that can be changed. If you give birth to several children and breast-feed them for several months, avoid alcohol, exercise regularly, and maintain a slim body, you are decreasing your risk of getting breast cancer. Likewise, avoiding postmenopausal hormone therapy will avoid increasing your risk.

Other than these lifestyle changes, the most important action a woman can take is to follow early detection guidelines. Following the American Cancer Society's guidelines for early detection will not prevent breast cancer but can help find cancers when the likelihood of successful treatment is greatest. Please check our screening calendar for Screening, and Lunch & Learn events.

Click here to download an informational card on breast cancer. (PDF Format)

(C)Gulf Coast Cancer Center