fungating tumor

deanna77

how to treat a fungating breast cancer tumor

maggie15

Hi @deanna77, I’m sorry that you are dealing with a fungating tumor. An oncologist will treat the cancer. Sometimes there is a wound care nurse available if the practice is large. If not you should find a wound care surgeon or clinic. The surgeon supervises specialist nurses who use different types of dressings to help manage wounds that won’t heal. Most of the patients tend to have diabetic wounds but they treat all difficult wounds whatever the cause. I ended up there when I was released from a burn unit. They will show you how to care for the wound, send you home with the appropriate materials and check how things are going when you return (I went weekly.) The surgeon would sometimes debride my wounds or perform another procedure. If there is no clinic you should ask who treats diabetic wounds to be referred to someone who can help. All the best.

moderators

Hi @deanna77 , we’re sorry you’re dealing with this.

A fungating breast tumor is usually managed with a combination of cancer treatment from your oncology team and specialist wound care to help with symptoms like drainage, odor, bleeding, and discomfort. As @maggie15 shared , a wound care clinic or wound care nurse can be very helpful if one is available in your area.

You may also find this resource useful for understanding more about it and how it’s managed:

https://www.breastcancer.org/types/fungating-tumor

We hope others in the community who have experience with this will also share what has helped them. Please don’t hesitate to keep us updated on how you’re doing.

The Mods

jhl

Hi Deanna77, do you have an oncologist? One of the mainstays of current treatment is chemotherapy or targeted therapy to decrease the tumor size. Your oncologist can refer you to the appropriate surgeon to deal with the wound or to do a mastectomy. Of course, as previously mentioned, a wound care clinic is necessary. In addition, your nutrition is very important to not only to promote wound healing but also to fight whatever infection is probably present. Take good care of yourself!