Research has shown that when tamoxifen is used as adjuvant therapy for early stage breast cancer, it helps to prevent the original cancer from returning and also helps to prevent the development of new cancers in the other breast. The ovaries are the main source of estrogen prior to menopause . For premenopausal women with breast cancer, adjuvant hormone therapy may involve tamoxifen to deprive the cancer cells of estrogen. Drugs to suppress the production of estrogen by the ovaries are under investigation. Alternatively, surgery may be performed to remove the ovaries.
Radiation therapy is considered adjuvant treatment when it is given before or after a mastectomy .
Such treatment is intended to destroy breast cancer cells that have spread to nearby parts of the body, such as the chest wall or lymph nodes. Prognostic factors are characteristics of breast tumors that help predict whether the disease is likely to recur . Doctors consider these factors when they are deciding which patients might benefit from adjuvant therapy. Lymph node involvement . Lymph nodes in the underarm are a common site of breast cancer spread.