Answers to Most-Googled Questions About Breast Cancer

00;00;00;03 – 00;00;42;23
Dr. Amy Comander
My title is Dr. Amy Commander. I’m a breast oncologist, and I’m right here to assist deal with your questions that you will have about issues that you’ve googled. Is it secure to take collagen dietary supplements when you’ve got an estrogen receptor-positive breast most cancers? I truthfully suppose we’d like extra analysis to perceive if that exact complement is definitely secure to take, together with necessary drugs similar to tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors or together with chemotherapy. We truly do have a research revealed within the Journal of Clinical Oncology only a few years in the past displaying that sufferers with breast most cancers who have been taking numerous kinds of dietary supplements throughout chemo, sadly had a worse end result.

00;00;43;02 – 00;01;02;01
Dr. Amy Comander
So even when it is a collagen complement that somebody’s taking with a want to enhance their pores and skin and their hair and their nails, I’ve to say I’m very skeptical, and I simply say, you realize, I feel it is actually necessary to give attention to getting necessary vitamins out of your food plan fairly than from a powder that you do not actually know what’s precisely in that.

00;01;02;22 – 00;01;29;08
Dr. Amy Comander
What are the unwanted effects of letrozole? There is the potential for joint pains in about one in three ladies. In some ladies it may be fairly manageable, however in some ladies it may be distressing, and typically we do have to change round their medicine to handle it finest. Other potential unwanted effects do embody sizzling flashes, in addition to a decline in bone density, which we rigorously monitor.

00;01;29;23 – 00;01;58;08
Dr. Amy Comander
Many sufferers tolerate these drugs very nicely, however in some instances we do have to make modifications to be sure that these drugs are nicely tolerated, since they’re so necessary for the remedy of hormonally delicate breast most cancers. Are we ever ready to put on an underwire bra after present process a lumpectomy and radiation remedy? Many ladies do discover that sporting an underwire bra shortly after surgical procedure truly is uncomfortable,

00;01;58;08 – 00;02;27;20
Dr. Amy Comander
and subsequently the breast surgeons typically don’t advocate it, and there is doubtless different causes as nicely. They need to be sure that the surgical incisions are therapeutic appropriately with out abrasion, and so on. It’s actually secure to put on an underwear bra, however I’d actually encourage a affected person to focus on this along with her breast surgeon as to when it could be okay to put on that sort of bra as a result of typically, shortly after surgical procedure, the surgeons do advocate a extra supportive type of sports activities bra garment to put on initially, simply whereas that therapeutic course of is occurring.

00;02;27;28 – 00;02;48;25
Dr. Amy Comander
My head feels sore the place my hair is rising again. Is this regular? I do suppose that is a traditional sensation and nothing to be frightened about. Your scalp has been by way of loads throughout chemotherapy remedy and you realize, the hair’s rising again and that is a blessing and it is often one thing that resolves, so I don’t suppose it is one thing to be overly involved about.

00;02;49;06 – 00;03;17;18
Dr. Amy Comander
My breast most cancers has an orange peel, texture and look after my mastectomy. What might be inflicting this? I’d say that that sort of look of the pores and skin is worrisome and sometimes seen with a prognosis of inflammatory breast most cancers. However, if a person has undergone a mastectomy, it is extremely unlikely that this look on her pores and skin represents a recurrence of her breast most cancers.

00;03;17;27 – 00;03;51;04
Dr. Amy Comander
It is more likely that this swollen look represents swelling of the breast, presumably one thing referred to as breast edema, which might be a manifestation of lymphedema or post-surgical adjustments. So I’d strongly advocate that this particular person comply with up along with her plastic surgeon to have an intensive analysis. What do the outcomes of my pathology report imply? So an understanding of the pathology report is admittedly key for a affected person to perceive the implications of his or her prognosis.

00;03;51;12 – 00;04;32;16
Dr. Amy Comander
We know that breast most cancers just isn’t one illness. There are many various subtypes of breast most cancers, and that pathology report can actually assist reply these questions. Specifically, what’s the kind of breast most cancers and what’s the grade of the breast most cancers which refers to the structure of the cells within the tumor, after which what’s truly additionally most necessary is the receptor profile, and that refers to is the tumor hormonally delicate, which means is it delicate to the feminine hormones, estrogen and progesterone and does the tumor over specific a protein referred to as HER2/neu.

00;04;32;27 – 00;05;03;15
Dr. Amy Comander
So these are key elements which can be within the pathology report that every affected person ought to perceive after receiving this prognosis. How lengthy do you want to wait to get a tattoo after chemotherapy? I feel it actually is dependent upon when the person needs to get that tattoo and the place it’s on the physique. Certainly, if the tattoo is expounded to a nipple reconstruction, I’d actually advocate that the affected person focus on this additional along with her physician or plastic surgeon as to when it’s acceptable to try this.

00;05;03;26 – 00;05;23;29
Dr. Amy Comander
If the person needs to get a tattoo some place else on her physique, actually she needs to be sure that her blood counts have recovered totally that there is not an elevated threat for an infection, and so on. So I feel it is actually advantageous to get a tattoo, however I feel it is an amazing query that the affected person ought to ask her medical workforce. How lengthy can a remission final?

00;05;24;11 – 00;05;49;05
Dr. Amy Comander
So an understanding of a affected person’s threat for recurrence actually is dependent upon the options of the tumor. What is the stage of the tumor? What sort of breast most cancers did the affected person have and what are these receptors subtypes, particularly estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and HER2. So a full understanding of those options is admittedly key for a affected person to perceive his or her prognosis,

00;05;49;16 – 00;06;11;13
Dr. Amy Comander
after which that affected person can have a dialog with the physician in regards to the remedies you are recommending. How a lot are they’ll decrease my threat of recurrence and why are they necessary and on this dialog is essential, and some of these subtleties one can actually not glean from Dr. Google. Do I’ve to fear about getting lymphedema over the course of my complete life?

00;06;11;15 – 00;06;37;24
Dr. Amy Comander
Lymphedema is certainly a priority amongst breast most cancers survivors and definitely with remedies that we at the moment use. Our purpose is to hopefully decrease the incidence of lymphedema in our sufferers, however actually it does nonetheless occur. Therefore, in my follow, we rigorously monitor our sufferers for any indicators of lymphedema, and do our greatest to be proactive to assist decrease this complication,

00;06;38;01 – 00;07;00;05
Dr. Amy Comander
but it surely is a crucial aspect impact that sufferers who’ve had significantly an axillary lymph node dissection, do want to concentrate on. Remember, what’s written on the web just isn’t essentially correct info. A trusted useful resource is at all times your personal medical workforce who is aware of your personal particular person historical past and may provide the finest steering and reply to your questions.