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Breast cancer

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    • Home
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      • Ductal carcinoma in situ
      • Lobular carcinoma in situ
      • Early breast cancer
      • Paget's disease of the nipple
      • Inflammatory breast cancer
      • Locally advanced breast cancer
      • Metastatic breast cancer
      • Follow-up
        • Physical examinations
        • Breast imaging tests
        • Questions to ask
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        • When treatment stops
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      • Recurrent and secondary cancer
        • What makes spread more likely
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      • GP guides and resources
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    • Home
    • Types
      • Ductal carcinoma in situ
      • Lobular carcinoma in situ
      • Early breast cancer
      • Paget's disease of the nipple
      • Inflammatory breast cancer
      • Locally advanced breast cancer
      • Metastatic breast cancer
    • Statistics
    • Risk factors
    • Symptoms
      • Ductal carcinoma in situ
      • Lobular carcinoma in situ
      • Early breast cancer
      • Paget’s disease of the nipple
      • Inflammatory breast cancer
      • Locally advanced breast cancer
      • Metastatic breast cancer
    • Awareness
      • iPrevent
    • Diagnosis
      • Tests
        • Triple test
      • Stages of breast cancer
      • Receiving a diagnosis
      • Diagnosis of early breast cancer
        • What the pathology report means
      • Diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ
        • What the DCIS pathology report means
      • Diagnosis when breast cancer spreads
      • Questions to ask
    • Treatment
      • Treatment team
        • Members of the team
        • Talking with health professionals
        • Questions to ask
      • Deciding about treatment
        • Travelling
        • Pregnancy
        • Tips for making decisions
        • Questions to ask
        • MammaPrint ® (70 gene signature) test
      • Surgery
        • Breast-conserving surgery
        • Mastectomy
        • Surgery to the armpit (axilla)
        • Surgery for metastatic breast cancer
        • Breast reconstruction
        • Choosing a surgeon
        • Questions to ask
        • Care after surgery
      • Radiotherapy
        • Early breast cancer
        • Metastatic breast cancer
        • Questions to ask
        • Skin care
        • Travelling
      • Chemotherapy
        • How does chemotherapy work?
        • Type of chemotherapy
        • What does chemotherapy involve?
        • Side effects
        • Questions to ask
      • Hormonal therapies
        • Hormone receptors
        • Types of hormonal therapy
        • Side effects
        • Menopause and oestrogen production
        • Deciding about hormonal therapies
        • Questions to ask
      • Targeted therapies
        • HER2 receptors
        • Types of targeted therapy
        • Questions to ask
      • Complementary & alternative therapies
        • Complementary therapies
        • Questions to ask
        • Where to find more information
      • Palliative care
        • What is palliative care?
        • Accessing palliative care
        • Questions to ask
      • Ductal carcinoma in situ
      • Lobular carcinoma in situ
      • Early breast cancer
      • Paget's disease of the nipple
      • Inflammatory breast cancer
      • Locally advanced breast cancer
      • Metastatic breast cancer
      • Follow-up
        • Physical examinations
        • Breast imaging tests
        • Questions to ask
      • Advanced disease
        • When treatment stops
        • Facing the possibility of dying
        • Putting your affairs in order
        • Questions to ask
      • Recurrent and secondary cancer
        • What makes spread more likely
    • Living with
      • Practical aspects of diagnosis
        • Costs of treatment and prostheses
        • Travel schemes
        • Questions to ask
        • Choosing a cancer treatment
      • Physical changes
        • Body image
        • Menopause
        • Fertility
        • Lymphoedema
      • Emotional changes
        • How you might feel
        • Effects on partners
        • Effects on children
        • Effects on family and friends
      • Physical changes – metastatic
        • Pain
        • Symptoms and treatment side effects
      • Emotional changes – metastatic
        • Common feelings
      • Practical aspects - metastatic
        • Work
        • Financial support
        • How to access support at home
        • How to access support outside home
        • Questions to ask
    • Life after
      • Health
        • Fatigue
        • Poor sleep
        • Lymphoedema
        • Menopause
        • Pain
        • Diet
        • Exercise
      • Feelings
        • Finding a new ‘normal’
        • Fear of recurrence
        • Feelings of loss
        • Isolation
        • Anxiety and depression
        • Not sure how you feel?
      • Relationships
        • Partners
        • Children
        • Friends
        • Colleagues
      • Practical issues
        • Returning to work
        • Questions to ask your health fund
    • Support
    • Clinical trials
      • What happens in a clinical trial?
      • What are the phases of a clinical trial?
      • Advantages and disadvantages
      • Questions to ask about clinical trials
      • When to find more information
    • Health professionals
      • Menopausal symptoms
      • Screening
      • Breast cancer diagnosis
      • Early breast cancer
      • Metastatic breast cancer
      • Ductal carcinoma
      • Lobular carcinoma
      • GP guides and resources
      • Follow-up care
      • Breast cancer Qstream
  1. Home
  2. Living with
  3. Practical aspects of diagnosis
  4. Choosing a cancer treatment
  • Practical aspects of diagnosis
    • Costs of treatment and prostheses
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    • Choosing a cancer treatment
  • Physical changes
  • Emotional changes
  • Physical changes – metastatic
  • Emotional changes – metastatic
  • Practical aspects - metastatic

Choosing a cancer treatment

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  • A|A

Every patient has the right to participate in any decision about their health care or medical treatment. In general, health practitioners are required to inform you of the nature of the proposed treatment and to gain your consent for all treatment, before it starts.

Making a decision about treatment can be complex and frightening, but most people make complex decisions every day. Deciding which car to buy and where to live are also complex decisions, but most people make these decisions successfully many times during their life.

If you are offered a choice of treatments, you will need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each treatment. If only one type of treatment is recommended, ask your doctor to explain why other choices have not been offered.

Some people with more advanced cancer will choose treatment, even if it only offers a small chance of cure. Others want to make sure the benefits of treatment outweigh any side effects. Still others will choose the treatment they believe offers them the best quality of life.

Some people may choose not to have treatment to eradicate cancer, but instead will choose to have symptoms managed to optimise their physical and emotional well-being. You may wish to discuss your options with you treatment team, family and friends, or with a counsellor, psychologist or psychiatrist.

Questions you should ask include:

  • What are my treatment options?
     
  • Is this treatment plan meant to help side effects, slow the spread of cancer, or both?
    The discussion should include information about any alternative treatment options, including different types of surgery and other treatments. You are also entitled to seek a second opinion.
     
  • What are the expected outcomes of each option?
     
  • What’s the best we can hope for by trying this treatment? What is the goal?
    Successful treatment can never be absolutely assured and different procedures carry different risks. You need to be aware of the expected outcome of the treatment or treatments being recommended, including known complications, so that you can decide which treatment option is best for you.
     
  • What is the likelihood that each expected outcome will occur?
     
  • What’s the most likely result of trying this treatment?
    The likelihood of expected outcomes (success, side effects and/or complications) varies with different treatments and with individual patients’ characteristics. Statistics for success and complication rates are based on studies of large numbers of people with the same stage of cancer. Knowing how likely it is that each outcome will occur will help you and your clinician weigh up the benefits and risks.Some procedures that are new or uncommon may not have sufficient research to support meaningful statistics and your doctor will make recommendations based on other information, such as personal experience, training or expert knowledge. Where your doctor is relying on alternative information they should discuss this with you.
     
  • What are the possible side effects and other downsides of the treatment?
     
  • How likely are they? Are the possible rewards bigger than the possible drawbacks?
    Doctors and other health practitioners know a lot about the treatments they recommend, but only you know about your lifestyle, the demands of your job and family and your personal needs and preferences. You will need to weigh the impact of the treatment against its likely outcome.
  • Last Updated
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updated: 20 October 2020 - 3:32pm
Australian Cancer Trials

Related information

What is cancer?
What is cancer?

Cancer is a disease of the cells, which are the body’s basic building blocks.

Treatment and side effects
Treatment and side effects

The treatment that your doctors recommend will depend on the type of cancer you have, how advanced it is, and other personal factors.

Living with cancer
Living with cancer

A diagnosis of cancer marks the beginning of a journey full of emotional, psychological, physical and practical challenges.

Life after cancer
Life after cancer

While looking forward to finishing their cancer treatment and getting on with life, for some people, the end of treatment can also be a confusing or worrying time.

A-Z List of Cancer Types

Information on more than 70 types of cancer

  • Bladder cancer
  • Bowel cancer
  • Brain cancer
  • Breast cancer
  • Breast cancer in men
  • Breast cancer in young women
  • Cervical cancer
  • Children's Cancer
  • Endometrial cancer
  • Fallopian cancer
  • Gestational trophoblastic disease
  • Gynaecological cancers
  • Head and neck cancer
  • Kidney cancer
  • Leukaemia
  • Liver cancer
  • Lung cancer
  • Lymphoma
  • Melanoma of the skin
  • Mesothelioma cancer
  • Myeloma
  • Neuroendocrine tumours
  • Oesophageal cancer
  • Ovarian cancer
  • Pancreatic cancer
  • Prostate cancer
  • Sarcoma
  • Stomach cancer
  • Testicular cancer
  • Thyroid cancer
  • Unknown primary
  • Uterine sarcoma
  • Vaginal cancer
  • Vulval cancer

About Cancer Australia

Cancer Australia was established by the Australian Government in 2006 to benefit all Australians affected by cancer, and their families and carers. Cancer Australia aims to reduce the impact of cancer, address disparities and improve outcomes for people affected by cancer by leading and coordinating national, evidence-based interventions across the continuum of care.

If you would like an interpreter to help you understand any information on this website, please call TIS National on 131 450 and ask them to call Cancer Australia on 02 9357 9400. Our business hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

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