Adjuvant Therapy Explained By Dr. Harness - Breast Cancer Answers

Adjuvant therapy is treatment that done in addition to surgery. Chemotherapy and anti-hormonal therapy are examples of adjuvant therapy. Dr. Harness explains more about adjuvant therapy in the video below.

Jay K. Harness, MD: What is adjuvant therapy? The word adjuvant or ?adjunctive to? means therapy that is in addition to the surgery that I will be performing. So what forms of adjuvant therapies are there? Well the primary one that patients think about of course is chemotherapy and yes that can be an important adjunct. The thing about chemotherapy is that chemotherapy is needed to treat the whole body. So if you have an invasive breast cancer, we know that we need to treat the whole body. Now that may involve chemotherapy, but it may also involve adjuvant antihormonal therapy and I will also be providing a clip here that explains from a medical oncologist point of view the whole issue of adjuvant chemotherapy and also the issue of adjuvant antihormonal therapy. What is the important concept? The important concept is treating the whole body. Because of cancer cells that are potentially shut off and gone elsewhere in the body and we have known for over 30 years know that adjuvant treatment is really critical in the overall big picture treatment of breast cancer. Another use of the word Adjuvant is in the arena of radiation therapy and I also have videos that we can share with you about radiation therapy, the concepts of radiation therapy, and we will also provide video clips from a radiation oncologist, the doctor who does the radiation therapy. But if you have a lumpectomy for either in situ or invasive breast cancer then we know that the radiation therapy of the breast either whole breast or partial breast is an important adjunct in the proper local regional treatment of your breast cancer. In addition, there are certainly times where we do radiation therapy after a mastectomy even that is an adjunct because of the stage of the disease all again part of local regional control with radiation therapy. So the term adjuvant is an important term to understand it means the treatments in addition to the surgical treatment that you will be receiving.

Dr. Jay K. Harness is a board certified surgeon currently treating patients at St. Joesph Hospital in Orange, CA. Dr. Harness specializes in complete breast health, breast cancer surgery, oncoplastic reconstruction, genetic screening, management of breast health issues, risk assessment and counseling. Dr. Harness is the medical director for Breast Cancer Answers.com, and guides this first ever social media show?s information by drawing on his former leadership experience as the President of the American Society of Breast Surgeons and Breast Surgery International. Dr. Harness graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1969 and spent time early on in his career at the University of Michigan Medical Center.

****
This information should not be relied upon as a substitute for personal medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Use the information provided on this site solely at your own risk. ?If you have any concerns about your health, please consult with a physician.

Related posts:

Source: http://www.breastcanceranswers.com/what-is-adjuvant-therapy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-is-adjuvant-therapy

double eagle bubba masters winner instagram facebook mike wallace mike wallace chicago cubs