BREAST CANCER
TREATMENTS
MAY/2014
TRADITIONAL OR ALTERNATIVE?
SHOULD PEOPLE USE ALTERNATIVE
BREAST CANCER TREATMENTS OPPOSED
TO TRADITIONAL TREATMENTS?
Today’s news centers on a battle fought by many
people around the world: Breast Cancer. As
more and more people are diagnosed, each
patient must decide what treatments are best.
Traditionally, breast cancer treatments involve
surgery, radiation therapy, or chemotherapy.
However, some people have been looking into
alternative treatments which are therapies used
instead of doctor’s medical treatment. Some
popular alternative therapies include dendritic
cell therapy and a pharmacological treatment
that includes using high dosages of vitamin C.
Read more to learn the current take on the two
treatments and what the future holds for breast
cancer.
CURRENT POPULAR TREATMENTS
CURRENT POPULAR TREATMENTS:
CONCONTINUED: SURGERY
SURGERY
Ethical reasons such as Outcomes and Liberty
may have influenced the patients to choose
surgery though. Because of the unknown
alternative therapies, breast cancer patients feel
pressured to take part in the traditional
therapies. They understand from their doctors
the risks and benefits of traditional therapies
and are persuaded to choose from this
narrowed list. But do these ethical questions
about Outcomes and Liberty only apply to the
patient? Perhaps there are reasons why doctors
prescribe surgery over other treatments.
Current studies show that surgery,
chemotherapy and radiation are the best
forms of breast cancer treatment. Surgery, the
most common treatment, removes the tumor
by cutting it out. This treatment is most
common because it is easiest if the tumors in
the breast have not spread through lymphatic
vessels and into other organs in the body.
This treatment may be most common because
it works the best or because patients have a
tendency to choose it over alternative
therapies. In a study done on 5,339 breast
cancer patients, only 70 refused to have
surgery and of those only 10 chose alternative
therapy.
Surgery Tools
In today’s world society has an influence on
how patients and doctors undergo choosing a
treatment. For example, when prescribing
cancer treatments, oncologists must remember
that treatments, including the drugs used for
them, must be FDA approved.
BREAST CANCER
TREATMENTS
TRADITIONAL OR ALTERNATIVE?
MAY/2014
CURRENT POPULAR TREATMENTS CONTINUED:
SURGERY
This requires doctors to prescribe traditional drugs and
therapies that have been FDA approved. This requirement
is seen as a societal norm or expectation because patients
expect doctors to only prescribe treatments that have
been approved and that influences the doctors to in turn
prescribe these treatments such as surgery. Although
there are side effects such as infection, hematoma, and
lymphedema, surgery is still very common. Therefore,
perhaps surgery is the most common treatment because it
is the best or because each patient’s ethics and society’s
expectations of doctors make it the most common.
goals and options of therapy are openly
considered and recommendations are made.
This guideline requires information to be
given in an unbiased manner, which
influences doctors to prescribe any and all
types of treatments.
CURRENT TRADITIONAL TREAMENTS:
CHEMOTHERAPY/RADIATION
Other current traditional treatments include radiation
therapy and chemotherapy. Radiation therapy uses a
special kind of high-energy beam to damage cancer
cells. Radiation kills cancer cells by damaging the DNA
directly or creating charged particles or free radicals
within the cells that damage the DNA. When the cells are
damaged beyond repair they stop dividing, or they die
and are eliminated through the body’s natural processes.
Chemotherapy and radiation work to kill the cancer cells
or stop them from progressing. Chemotherapy uses a
combination of FDA approved drugs to target the nucleus
and kill the genes there. They can also damage the site
where the cell divides or damage the cells while they are
making copies before they divide into 2 cells.
Radiation and chemotherapy have side effects that may
cause people to choose alternative therapies. Radiation
causes heart problems and second cancer.
Chemotherapy causes “chemo brain” an increased risk of
leukemia, and causes long lasting fatigue. Because of
the great risks involved in traditional therapy, some
doctors may talk to their patients about alternative
therapies as part of their ethical guidelines. Doctors must
consider the patient’s Liberty to choose which treatment
to use. Physicians should engage patients in a respectful
and reciprocal process, so that
Radiation Therapy
CHEMOTHERAPY
BREAST
CANCER
TREATMENTS
MAY/2014
TRADITIONAL OR ALTERNATIVE?
CURRENT ETHICS
VITAMIN C THERAPY
WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS
After reviewing the benefits, drawbacks, ethics and societal
norms of traditional and alternative breast cancer treatments,
this news team has to conclude that traditional treatments are
best for current patients. They offer the best outcomes for
least amount of drawbacks and have already become a
normal aspect of society. However, doctors suggest that
today’s alternative treatments will become the future’s
traditional treatments. Dendritic cell therapy may be the new
traditional treatments. Dendritic therapy is when the cancer
cells are presented to the dendritic cells. Dendritic cells are
antigen-presenting cells that have a role in the regulation of
the immune system. An antigen is a toxin or other foreign
substance that induces an immune response in the body,
especially the production of antibodies. These dendritic cells
travel to the lymphocytes. The lymphocytes create the B and
T cells that will have antigens to combat and kill the cancer.
Because this is a relatively new treatment, there are not
known side effects. The only negative to this treatment so far
is that it is not FDA approved.
In the past, the oncologist had the hard task of
deciding which treatment would produce the
best results in the specific patient. But now,
the oncologist must decide if the treatment is
worth the cost. “The society of oncologists
currently is developing a way to evaluate
drugs based on their cost and value, as well
as their efficacy and side effects. It is
expected to be ready by this fall.” Instead of
thinking mainly about the medical Outcomes
of the patients, the doctors must think about
Fairness-balancing the need for treatment and
the expense of the treatment. They must also
consider Responsibility and Authority by
knowing their obligation as a doctor to help in
the most beneficial way while also following
the expectations of the medical society
guidelines and using less expensive
treatments. In this case, the alternative
treatments such as the vitamin c alternative
therapy might be considered more closely
because of their difference in price from the
traditional treatments. Pharmacological
Vitamin C treatments can kill the cancer by
producing hydrogen peroxide, or it can help
alleviate the painful side effects of cancer. It is
also beneficial as a complementary treatment
when used with light therapy for breast
cancer. However, if the patient has a history of
kidney disorders this treatment may cause
kidney stones.
BREAST
CANCER
TREATMENTS
SUBHEAD HERE
TRADITIONAL
OR ALTERNATIVE?
FINAL THOUGHTS
Predictions suggest that tests on this procedure
will show how it has the best outcomes with the
least amount of drawbacks as there have been
no drawbacks seen yet. This new therapy may
become mainstream because it does not add
harmful substances to the body such as
chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Until the
future brings this treatment to light, however,
current patients should partake in traditional
treatments as they offer the best outcomes.
TRADITIONAL NOW/ ALTERNATIVE IN THE
FUTURE
Contributors:
Kara Delfino