Does breast cancer always require treatment?

Most women with breast cancer in stages I, II, or III are treated with surgery, often followed by radiation therapy. Many women also get some kind of drug therapy. In general, the more the breast cancer has spread, the more treatment you will likely need.

What happens if you say no to chemotherapy?

Studies have reported rates of less than 1\% for patients who refused all conventional treatment [4] and 3\%–19\% for patients who refused chemotherapy partially or completely [5–9]. We tend to think that refusing therapy leads to a poorer quality of life as the disease progresses without treatment.

What is the life expectancy of someone with breast cancer?

They also studied the data on 1,022 untreated patients in other studies, and found a median survival time of 2.3 years. In a few rare cases, women suffering from advanced breast cancer have experienced regressions.

Can breast cancer be cured sometimes or not?

Even with the involvement of lymph nodes, breast cancer is considered an early stage and is potentially curable with treatment. When a cancer spreads to regions such as the bones, brain, lungs, or liver, however, it is considered stage IV, or metastatic breast cancer, and is no longer curable. Most breast cancers have the potential to spread.

What happens to untreated breast cancer?

Untreated Long-Term Side Effects of Breast Cancer Treatment Can Lead to Anxiety, Depression. Because of better diagnostic tests and advances in cancer treatments, more people are living longer than ever after being diagnosed. This is true for all types of cancer, including breast cancer.

What treatment is the best for breast cancer?

The drugs atezolizumab ( Tecentriq) and sacituzumab govitecan-hziy (Trodelvy) have been approved to treat triple-negative breast cancer that has spread. You might get chemotherapy, hormone therapy, or targeted therapy along with surgery or radiation.