6/24/2023 0 Comments Cancerous skin tags picturesThis allows the chemotherapy drug to enter the cancer cells more easily. How does it work?Įlectrical impulses change the outer layer of the cancer cells in the treated area causing gaps, called pores, to open up on the cells’ surface for a short time. This can help to monitor the affected areas and assess the effectiveness of the treatment. You may be asked to have medical photographs taken of the skin metastases and the area that requires treatment before it begins, and once it’s completed. These may include blood tests, a chest x-ray, a CT scan of the chest and lung function tests. You will need a number of tests to ensure it is safe to give you electrochemotherapy. It can also be given alongside other treatments or to skin which has previously been treated with radiotherapy.Įlectrochemotherapy may not be suitable for some people with certain lung conditions. It will be planned by your treatment team on an individual basis. When is it given?Įlectrochemotherapy may be used to treat skin metastases when other treatments haven’t worked or when surgery isn’t suitable. Using electrical impulses allows the chemotherapy to work in the treated areas only, with little or no effect in other areas.Įlectrochemotherapy won’t treat any other areas of secondary breast cancer inside the body. Help stop bleeding, broken skin (ulceration) and pain.Studies have shown that electrochemotherapy can: It’s given to help with the symptoms of skin metastases. Electrochemotherapy (sometimes called ECT) What is electrochemotherapy?Įlectrochemotherapy combines a low dose of a chemotherapy drug with electrical impulses. Your treatment team will discuss treatment options with you, help you weigh up the potential benefits against possible side effects and explain what the aim of treatment will be for you.įind out more about treatment for secondary breast cancer. These include your symptoms, the type and features of the cancer, treatments you have had in the past and your general health. The treatment offered will depend on a number of factors. The aim of treatment is to relieve symptoms, improve quality of life and slow the growth of the cancer. When breast cancer spreads to the skin, it can be treated but it cannot be cured. This is usually injected into a vein, and helps produce clearer images to identify the number, size and location of any areas of cancer. Before the scan you may be given a liquid known as a contrast solution. It’s painless but during the CT scan you need to lie still for a short period of time. You may also have a CT scan to check for any signs of the cancer having spread to other parts of the body.Ī CT scan uses x-rays to take a series of detailed pictures of the body. The biopsy site may be uncomfortable for a little while, but simple pain relief can be taken to help with this. It’s not unusual for the area to bleed a little after the biopsy so a small dressing or plaster will be applied. You’ll be given a local anaesthetic before a tiny cutter device is used to take a very small piece of tissue from the area. To confirm a diagnosis of secondary breast cancer in the skin, you may have a punch biopsy. They’ll also discuss any other symptoms you have. Skin metastases can also cause lymphoedema, which is swelling of the arm, hand or breast area.Ī member of your treatment team will examine you and look at your skin. Sometimes the symptoms of skin metastases, such as redness and inflammation, may look like an infection of the skin called cellulitis. Firm, painless, small lump (nodule) or a number of lumps of different sizes.Skin metastases are different to local recurrence, which is when primary breast cancer has come back in the chest or breast area. Less commonly, skin metastases can occur on other areas of skin, such as on the scalp, neck, back and arms.Ībout a third of people with secondary breast cancer will develop skin metastases. The most common sites affected are the areas near the site of the breast cancer, for example the skin of the chest wall, around the surgical scar or the abdomen (belly). The cells that have spread to the skin are breast cancer cells. This is not the same as having cancer that starts in the skin. This can happen through the blood or lymphatic system. Sometimes breast cancer cells can spread to the skin. Secondary breast cancer happens when cancer cells spread from the breast to other parts of the body. Skin metastases are s econdary breast cancers that form on or just below the skin. Support for living with secondary breast cancer 1. Electrochemotherapy (sometimes called ECT)Ħ.
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