5 Ways To Overcome Treatment of Breast Cancer Stages
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How does your age affect your treatment plan?
No matter your age, your treatment plan depends on many factors, such as the stage of the breast cancer and the characteristics of the tumor. Your overall health and other health conditions you may have also play a role in your treatment plan. For example, if you have heart disease, some medications can do more harm than good. All of these things help tailor your treatment plan.
Younger women with breast cancer have special concerns about early menopause and loss of fertility due to treatment. Learn about these issues for young women with breast cancer.
Treatment guidelines
Although the exact treatment for breast cancer varies from person to person, treatment guidelines help ensure quality care. These guidelines are based on the latest research and the consensus of experts.
The National Comprehensive Care Network (NCCN) and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) are two respected organizations that regularly update and post their guidelines online.
Talk with your health care providers about which treatment guidelines they use as the basis of their practice. Since there is often a time lag between the latest research and updates of guidelines, most medical oncologists prefer to base their treatment on the latest research that ultimately drives these guidelines.
In 2013, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a set of recommendations (below) on improving cancer care in the U.S. The report Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis recommends improvements to fix shortcomings that add cost and burden to cancer care. Susan G. Komen was one of 13 organizations sponsoring this study.
The report identified key ways to improve quality of care:
Ensure that cancer patients are engaged and understand their diagnoses so they can make informed treatment decisions with their health care providers
Develop a trained and coordinated workforce of cancer professionals
Focus on evidence-based care, using information technology to provide better information about the potential benefits of treatments
Focus on quality measurementsProvide accessible and affordable care for all
