During treatment, you may hear people mention complementary medicine. These are therapies used along with your prescribed treatment to help you feel better. They may include meditation to reduce stress, acupuncture to lessen pain, or herbal tea to reduce nausea. It is important to talk with your healthcare team before starting any complementary medicines or therapies. Some people also find support groups or talking with a counselor to be helpful.
To the right are examples of organizations and resources you may find helpful. Click on the links to visit those websites and learn more.
Clinical trials are used to find out more about potential treatments, such as the potential benefits and risks and for which types of people they may work best. The results of trials have helped doctors learn how to help prevent, detect, and treat breast cancer. Clinical trials are usually made up of 2 groups of volunteers - one group will get the treatment being studied, and the other group will get the same treatment they may already be receiving from their doctors.
There are 3 phases of clinical trials:
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Phase I trials test how safe a dose is, how a treatment should be given, and how a treatment affects the body
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Phase II trials test to see if the treatment being studied has an effect on a specific disease and how it affects the body
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Phase III compares the treatment being studied with the treatment usually used to treat that type of cancer (standard of care treatment)
Talk with your healthcare provider to learn more about clinical trials and to see if one may be right for you. Go to ClinicalTrials.gov to find out more about clinical trials.
To the right are examples of organizations and resources you may find helpful. Click on the links to visit those websites and learn more.
Your healthcare team may use different tests to tell if treatment may be working. These tests may be the same as the ones used to learn the stage of the tumor. They may also be used after treatment to tell if the cancer is coming back. Your doctor will use the results of the tests to tell if changes need to be made to your treatment plan. Be sure to work with your healthcare team to understand your treatment and the tests you will need to help them know how you are doing.
To the right are examples of organizations and resources you may find helpful. Click on the links to visit those websites and learn more.
Knowing whether your breast cancer is HER2 positive (HER2+) is important. HER2+ breast cancer can grow and spread more quickly than other types of breast cancer. But there are specific treatments that can slow the growth of HER2+ tumors. Talk with your healthcare provider about your HER2 status and which treatments may work best for you.
