Breast cancer strikes 1 in 8 women in the United States, but being diagnosed with the disease can still make you feel alone. To cope with such devastating news, breast cancer surgeons from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) offer tips on navigating the disease. First, any treatment will depend on the stage and type of breast cancer you have.
There are several surgical options for breast cancer, as well as treatments that combine immunotherapy and chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer , an aggressive form of the disease that disproportionately affects Black women and has long been difficult to treat. One type of immunotherapy, pembrolizumab (Keytruda), has been effective when used alongside chemotherapy and it has now become the standard of care to treat certain types of triple-negative breast cancer, the ACS said. "It's really important that the patient and physician discuss the patient's preferences and values when deciding what type of treatment to pursue and that they have an honest, individualized discussion with their care team," said Dr.
Katharine Yao. She is chair of the ACS National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), which sets breast cancer treatment guidelines for more than 575 centers and hospitals across the country. Yao, who is also vice chair of research at Endeavor Health NorthShore Hospitals in New York, noted that any treatment decision should reflect not just the patient's diagnosis but also her goals, such as if she would prefer .