Types of Treatment

Together, you and your health care provider make breast cancer treatment decisions. After you get a recommended treatment plan from your provider, take time to study your treatment options and make thoughtful, informed decisions.

The goal of treating early breast cancer is to get rid of the cancer and keep it from coming back.
Breast cancer treatment can be divided into local and systemic therapy.

Local therapy

Local therapy removes the cancer from a limited (local) area, such as the breast, chest wall or lymph nodes in the underarm area. It also helps ensure the cancer doesn’t come back to that area.
Local therapy involves surgery, with or without radiation therapy to the breast area.

Systemic therapy (adjuvant therapy)

The goal of systemic therapy is to get rid of cancer cells that may have spread from the breast to other parts of the body. These cells are too small to be seen on scans or to be measured with lab tests.
Systemic therapy uses drug therapies that travel throughout the body to get rid of cancer cells. It includes chemotherapy, hormone therapy and targeted therapy.

Some drug therapies are given by vein (through an IV) and others are given in pill form.
Because systemic therapy is used in addition to (an adjunct to) breast surgery, these treatments are often called adjuvant therapy.