Doctors use different treatments for women with different types of breast cancer. Here we talk about treatments for breast cancer that has not spread beyond the breast and the nearby lymph nodes (called non-metastatic breast cancer).

The treatments that you will be offered depend on:

• The size of the cancer

• Where the cancer is in your breast

• What type of breast cancer you have

• Whether it has spread to other areas and, if so, where it has spread

• Your general health.

Key points about treating breast cancer

• There are two main types of treatments. Local treatments treat your breast and the nearby lymph nodes. Systemic treatments treat your whole body.

• Local treatments are surgery and radiotherapy.

• Systemic treatments are chemotherapy (anti-cancer drugs) and hormone therapy. These reduce the chance that cancer will come back in the same place or anywhere else in your body.

• Your treatment should start within four weeks of your breast cancer being diagnosed.

Treatments for breast cancer

Which treatments work best? Different types of breast cancer need different types of treatments. We've carefully weighed the research and looked at the treatments for three different types of cancer.

• Treatments for ductal carcinoma in situ: This is breast cancer that hasn't spread from the milk ducts in your breast. Treatments include surgery, radiotherapy and tamoxifen. More...

• Treatments for early breast cancer: This is cancer that has spread into your breast tissue from your milk ducts and possibly to your lymph nodes. It can be operated on. Treatments include surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, ovarian ablation (which involves removing your ovaries or stopping them making oestrogen) and hormone treatments (tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors). More...

• Treatments for locally advanced breast cancer: This breast cancer is bigger than 5 centimetres (around 2 inches), or has spread to your skin or to the front of your chest, or to both your skin and chest. The lymph nodes under your armpit might also have become matted together by the tumour. Treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hormone treatments (tamoxifen). More...

To read about the different kinds of breast cancer, see Types of breast cancer.

For help in deciding which treatment is best for you, see How to use research to support your treatment decisions.

Treatments for ductal carcinoma in situ

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is breast cancer that hasn't spread outside the milk ducts of your breast.

Key points about treating ductal carcinoma in situ

• You'll have surgery to remove the cancer cells from your breast.

• You'll probably have a lumpectomy, which involves removing the cancer cells and some surrounding tissue (also called breast-conserving surgery).

• You may need radiotherapy after surgery if the cancer cells are aggressive or fast growing. (Your surgeon will send some cells to the laboratory to find out what they are like.) Radiotherapy reduces the chance that your cancer will come back.

• If your cancer cells are sensitive to a hormone called oestrogen (they are oestrogen-receptor positive), taking tamoxifen may reduce the chance that your cancer will come back.