The following article covers how to treat breast cancer without surgery.
Surgery is the most common treatment for breast cancer in stages I, II, and III. It’s highly effective too. One study found that the overall satisfaction rate of surgical breast cancer treatment stood between 68.6% and 70.9%. However, surgery is not the only available breast cancer treatment option. The choice of treatment is often a matter of the patient’s preference. Also, surgical de-escalation is increasingly gaining support in many oncology circles thanks to promising alternatives to surgery.
Can breast cancer be treated without surgery? The simple answer is “yes,” and this article explains the various plausible substitutes for surgical breast cancer treatment.
The Problem with Breast Cancer Surgery
Before getting into how to treat breast cancer without surgery, it’s important to understand what breast cancer surgery entails and why some patients and oncologists might want to avoid it.
Breast cancer surgery reduces or gets rid of the cancer by cutting off the malignant tumor. This can be done through mastectomy (the surgical removal of the entire breast) or breast-conserving surgery (BCS), where only the cancerous tissue is removed. BCS, also known as lumpectomy or partial mastectomy, is mainly recommended for early-stage breast cancer patients with small singular tumors. Meanwhile, mastectomy is the ideal procedure when dealing with a high tumor-to-breast ratio or multiple tumors within the same breast.
The surgeon may also cut off the axillary lymph nodes under the arms as part of the cancer removal procedure or as a separate operation. This is typically carried out in one of two ways: sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) or axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). Lymph nodes may be removed for testing and prognosis or to curb the spread of the disease.
Statistics show that BCS-eligible patients are increasingly opting for mastectomy in lieu of BSC for fear of recurrence. Some patients, especially younger women, go a step further and have both breasts removed in what’s called contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) or bilateral mastectomy. CPM eliminates all likelihood of recurrence or developing new breast cancer, although some patients might favor it for anatomical symmetry.
As far as cancer treatments go, surgery has a pretty impressive track record of success. So, why would a breast cancer patient want to seek other means of treatment? Well, breast cancer surgery involves a number of compromises, risks, and side effects, which include:
- Surgery risks such as bleeding, severe inflammatory response, the side effects of anesthesia, and infections.
- Post-surgery complications (seroma, chronic pain, lymphedema, healing problems, etc.).
- Permanent scarring or defamation.
- The toll of surgery in terms of cost and recovery time.
- Some patients may require reconstructive surgery afterward, which adds to the risks and costs.
- There’s still a chance of recurrence, especially with the BCS procedure.
- Surgery may be ineffective in patients with highly developed breast cancer.
How to Treat Breast Cancer Without Surgery
Surgery is just one of several ways to treat breast cancer. Below is a list of other less invasive breast cancer treatments:
Low-Dose Metronomic Chemotherapy
Insulin potentiation therapy (Low-Dose Metronomic Chemotherapy) involves administering insulin in conjunction with low doses of chemotherapy drugs. The approach was first proposed by Dr. Donato Perez Garcia in the early 1930s. Later in a 1986 paper, Garcia’s son and grandson theorized that insulin made the cell membrane more permeable, especially that of cancer cells, which they believed had more insulin receptors. The Garcias argued that this increased permeability made the cell more receptive and hence more susceptible to anticancer drugs, meaning that even low chemo doses could effectively kill cancer cells.
During Low-Dose Metronomic Chemotherapy treatment, exogenous insulin is injected into the patient intravenously on a carefully personalized schedule and dosage.
Hyperthermia
Hyperthermia or thermal therapy is an alternative cancer treatment in which the cancerous tissue is exposed to temperatures of up to 113 °F (45 °C). The heat destroys the tumor, leaving the surrounding normal cells intact. This can be done in three ways:
- Local hyperthermia – The doctor targets a particular tumor or a portion of a tumor without interfering with the surrounding tissue. This procedure is carried out using a precision thermal probe powered by either radio frequencies or laser energy.
- Whole body hyperthermia – The whole body is subjected to high temperatures using heated blankets, baths, or incubators. This approach is ideal for metastasized breast cancer.
- Regional hyperthermia – Heat is applied to a particular body part or organ — in this case, the cancer-ridden breast.
Multiple studies show that hyperthermia can indeed shrink malignant tumors in various organs and improve patients’ response to other radiation-based treatments.
Vitamin C IV Therapy
High-dose vitamin C IV therapy has been used in holistic cancer treatments for decades. The idea that vitamin C (ascorbic acid) could treat cancer started in 1972 when Ewan Cameron, a Scottish surgeon, noticed that many cancer patients presented with symptoms akin to scurvy — a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency.
Vitamin C fights cancer in many different ways. For starters, vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant, immune booster, healing agent, and protein synthesis factor. It also reacts with metals to create hydrogen peroxide, which is toxic to cancer cells.
Hormonal Therapy
Hormonal or endocrine therapy treats breast cancers that are sensitive to hormones. These can be either estrogen receptor-positive (ER-positive) or progesterone receptor-positive (PR-positive). About 80% of breast cancers are ER-positive, of which 65% are also PR-positive. Such cancers are fueled by natural hormones. In essence, hormonal therapy works by blocking hormone action or lowering the levels of progesterone or estrogen in the body.
The treatment is carried out through prescriptions of ovarian suppressants such as goserelin, selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERM) such as tamoxifen, or aromatase inhibitors (AIs) such as fulvestrant. Like chemotherapy, hormonal therapy can be used to shrink tumors prior to surgery or reduce the risk of recurrence after surgery.
Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy aims to use the body’s natural defenses to fight cancer by “teaching” the immune system to recognize and attack malignant cells. This is mainly done through checkpoint inhibitors. Checkpoints are proteins on immune cells that must be turned on or off to trigger an immune response. They keep the immune system from attacking the body’s own cells, even cancerous ones. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab, target these proteins to trigger an attack response against cancer cells.
Immunotherapy may also involve antibodies that target various protein pathways, particularly TROP-2 and HERS2 pathways, to suppress the growth of breast cancer tumors.
Complementary Treatments
The National Cancer Institute defines complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as medical products, practices, and procedures that are not considered part of standard medicine. CAM is also sometimes referred to as integrative or holistic medicine. The purpose of CAM is to promote the patient’s general well-being — physically, mentally, and emotionally — while supplementing conventional cancer treatments. There are many different types of holistic breast cancer treatments generally grouped into these four categories:
- Mind-body therapies – Meditation, acupuncture, yoga, tai chi, music therapy, etc.
- Biologically based practices – Special foods and diets, aromatherapy, dietary supplements, herb therapy, etc.
- Manipulative practices – Massage, acupressure, reflexology, and chiropractic therapies.
- Energy healing – Reiki, homeopathy, bioresonance, and therapeutic touch.
These therapies are not substitutes for mainstream cancer treatments such as surgery, chemo, or radiotherapy. But crucially, they help the patient cope with the symptoms of breast cancer and the inevitable side effects of conventional medicine, which often include pain, anxiety, fatigue, mood swings, and nausea. CAM essentially improves the patient’s quality of life by easing the hardships of living with or recovering from breast cancer.
Despite not being part of standard medicine, scientific review acknowledges the benefits and safety of alternative therapies during and after breast cancer treatment.
Get Expert Advice on Breast Cancer Treatment
Breast cancer treatment options and procedures can be overwhelmingly confusing. And keep in mind that the ideal treatment varies from person to person, depending on the type and stage of breast cancer. The patient’s response to treatment also weighs in when making treatment plans.
Talk to breast cancer experts at Brio-Medical to explore all treatment possibilities and develop an effective treatment regimen based on individual preferences, risk factors, and the odds of success.
References:
- American Cancer Society, “Treatment of Breast Cancer Stages I-III.” Last revised April 12, 2022. Accessed August 3, 2022.
- Admoun, Claudia, and Harvey Mayrovitz. “Choosing Mastectomy vs. Lumpectomy-With-Radiation: Experiences of Breast Cancer Survivors.” Cureus vol. 13,10 e18433. 2 Oct. 2021, doi:10.7759/cureus.18433.
- Sarah P. Shubeck, Monica Morrow, and Lesly A. Dossett, “De-escalation in breast cancer surgery.” npj Breast Cancer volume 8, Article number: 25, 2022.
- American Cancer Society. “Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2019-2020.” Atlanta: American Cancer Society, Inc. 2019.
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- Ayre, S G et al. “Insulin potentiation therapy: a new concept in the management of chronic degenerative disease.” Medical hypotheses vol. 20,2 (1986): 199-210. doi:10.1016/0306-9877(86)90126-x
- Maluta, Sergio, and Merel Willemijn Kolff. “Role of Hyperthermia in Breast Cancer Locoregional Recurrence: A Review.” Breast care (Basel, Switzerland) vol. 10,6 (2015): 408-12. doi:10.1159/000440792
- Lewis Cantley and Jihye Yun: National Cancer Institute. “Intravenous High-Dose Vitamin C in Cancer Therapy.” Posted January 24, 2020. Accessed August 11, 2022.
- National Cancer Institute, “Hormone Therapy for Breast Cancer.” Last updated July 12, 2022. Accessed August 3, 2022.
- Lumachi, Franco et al. “Current medical treatment of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer.” World journal of biological chemistry vol. 6,3 (2015): 231-9. doi:10.4331/wjbc.v6.i3.23.1.
- Cancer Research Institute, “Immunotherapy for Breast Cancer.” Updated September 2021. Accessed August 3, 2022.
- National Cancer Institute, “Complementary and Alternative Medicine.” Last updated March 21, 2022. Accessed August 3, 2022.
