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Can Early-Stage Breast Cancer Be Cured? Here’s What Experts Say
By Raveena M Prakash
Breast cancer is a huge health concern across the world. While breast cancer is the most common type of cancer often found in women. However, the early- stage breast cancer is more considered curable when detected early. Many studies have shown higher survival rates for early-stage breast cancers due to effective cancer treatments and early diagnosis methods.
In this blog, we’ll explore what early-stage cancer means, whether early-stage breast cancer can be cured, and factors affecting the cure or long-term survival of the patients!
What is early-stage breast cancer?
Early- stage breast cancer, also known as invasive breast cancer that is contained within the breasts, may or may not have spread to the lymph nodes in the armpit. Early-stage breast cancer often includes stages 0, 1, and sometimes stage 2 considered as early-stage breast cancer. It mainly depends on the size and lymph node involvement of cancers that have also been known as early-stage breast cancer.
Can early-stage breast cancer be cured?
In early stages, breast cancer is confined to the breast tissue and is often easily treated with surgeries, radiation therapies, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and other treatment options. An oncologist rarely uses the word ‘cure’ with patients, more cautiously than ever, because even after undergoing many cancer treatments, patients experience no detectable disease for only some period of time.
Recurrence of cancer happens in some of the breast cancer patients. The chance of cancer recurring cannot be ignored in patients even after getting timely treatments and follow-up care.
Why early diagnosis matters in early-stage breast cancer!
Early-stage breast cancer, especially stages 0, 1, and 2, is considered highly curable, with a 5-year relative survival rate that is approximately around 100%. The chance of curability is highly dependent on the time of diagnosis. The cancer is highly localized to the breast and has not spread to other parts of the body. Early diagnosis allows for less invasive treatments, better treatment outcomes, and improved quality of life and increases the chance of recovery.
Here’s why early diagnosis is significant, including:
- Better treatment options: Early diagnosis matter for less aggressive treatments and offer a chance of complete cancer removal.
- Localized cancer: When these cancers are detected in the early stages, they are often confined to the breast tissue, which is often easier to treat than the cancers that have spread to the lymph nodes or other organs.
- Timely screening and check-ups: Getting screened on time along with practicing regular self-breast examinations is crucial for catching the cancer at its earliest and most treatable stages.
Factors that affects the cure/ long-term survival of early-stage breast cancer
Here are some of the key factors that affects the cure or long-term survival of early-stage breast cancer, including:
- Tumor size: Larger tumors are difficult to treat
- The Number of Lymph node involvement: More lymph node involvement can increase the chance of cancer recurrence.
- Patients age and overall health conditions: Younger women are diagnosed with aggressive cancer that might spread.
- Lifestyle factors: Unhealthy factors like smoking, alcohol consumption can play a vital role in cancer growth.
- Tumor biology (hormone receptor status, HER2 Status, Tumor grade)
How curable is early-stage breast cancer?
Many women with this early-stage breast cancer are cured. Patients undergo effective cancer treatment and won't find any detectable symptoms after the treatment for many years. They will likely spend their lives without the risk of any cancer recurrence.
But ‘cure’ of cancer usually can’t be guaranteed. In some cases, breast cancers might recur after so many years. However, the likelihood of cure or long-term survival depends heavily on several factors, including the cancer’s type, stage, the patient’s overall health conditions and lifestyle factors.
Many studies suggest that early-stage breast cancer tends to have 5-year survival rates, 10-year disease-specific survival, and long-term follow-ups to assess the treatment outcomes in patients.
How to improve early- stage breast cancer treatment outcomes
Here’s what women can do to improve breast cancer treatment outcomes, including:
- Awareness and screening : Encouraging women to perform regular physical examinations or routine screenings along with clinical examinations and mammograms, especially for women above the age of developing breast cancer or women with risk factors, is considered essential. Early detection saves lives.
- Assess quality medical care: Make sure that different types of diagnostic tests and pathology tests, along with different cancer treatments, are available for all women. Delays in treatments or lack of access to treatments can worsen the cancer treatments.
- Follow-up & monitoring: Even after completing the cancer treatments, guide the patients to follow regular check-ups to identify any recurrence in early stages.
- Healthy lifestyle and diet : After completing the treatments, patients should follow a healthy and balanced diet, along with physical activity. Try to reduce the exposure to risk factors that prevent the development of cancer recurrence.
Consult Today
An early-stage breast cancer can often be cured, or at least treated in such a manner that patients live a healthy and quality life without any diseases. Early detection is most favourable for effective cancer treatments, and better treatment outcomes and prompt follow-up care.
At Oncare, we offer premium-quality cancer treatments, including advanced cancer surgeries at affordable price ranges with an experienced cancer specialist consultation.
If you or any loved ones of yours are diagnosed with cancer, then visit Oncare Cancer Center and book an appointment with our experienced cancer specialist today! Get an estimated cost of your cancer treatments today!
Frequently Asked Questions
There are some risk factors that increase the risk of developing breast cancer in people.
These may include:
- Age
- Sex
- Family history
- Genetics
- Smoking
- Alcohol consumption
- Having obesity
- Exposure of radiation
- Hormone replacement therapy
Healthcare providers might do physical examinations or perform mammograms to check for the signs of breast cancer.
Here’s what healthcare providers use to diagnose the following tests.
- Breast ultrasound
- Breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan
- Breast biopsy
- Immunohistochemistry
- Genetic tests to identify mutations that cause breast cancer
Here are some breast cancer surgeries used for the cure of this cancer, including:
- Mastectomy
- Lumpectomy
- Breast reconstruction surgery
- Chemotherapy
- Radiation therapy
- Immunotherapy
- Hormone therapy
- Targeted therapy
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