An Overview of Breast Cancer

 

Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, the second one is skin cancer. It mostly affects people above the age of 50. Breast cancer happens when the cells in the breast grow abnormal and divided in a way that is uncontrollable. This makes a mass of tissue called a tumor (malignant). This can spread all over the body and make new tumors.

Early signs & Symptoms of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer symptoms and signs can vary from each person. So, Below are possible symptoms of breast cancer -

  • a new lump or any other changes like small cysts that feels different sense
  • Frequently getting breast pain
  • Any trace of colour changes in nipple or pitted skin
  • Any swelling in the breast full area or part
  • Any discharge from breast other than milk
  • Any blood discharge from nipple
  • Any scaling,peeling of skin in your breast and nipple
  • Any changes to the appearance of skin
  • Sudden changes in shape and size  of your breast
  • Any lumps forming under your arm

The above symptoms are only for finding breast cancer, not for confirming it. If you feel any of these symptoms, consult your doctor for further queries.

Causes of Breast Cancer 

Many risk factors are there to increase your chances of getting breast cancer. Feeling any of these symptoms means you don't have cancer means chances of getting cancer. Certain factors can’t be changed. But you can change many other risks. It includes -

  • Age - high risk of getting breast cancer for women above the age of 55 and also for men in rare cases.
  • Drinking Alcohol - Alcohol also increase your chances for breast cancer
  • Having dense breast tissue - dense tissue can’t be read by mammograms, so it increases the chances.
  • Gender - Chances of getting breast cancer for women 100% than men
  • Genes -  People with BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations are more likely to develop breast cancer than people who don’t.
  • Early menstruation - If you have your first period before 12 years, it increases the risk of getting breast cancer
  • Giving birth at an older age - People who gave birth after the age of 35 can increase the risk of breast cancer
  • Hormone therapy - People who are undergoing postmenopausal estrogen and progesterone treatment, can increse the risks.
  • Inherited risk - If a close relative had breast cancer, then you have a higher risk of breast cancer. But now, people with no family history can also be affected by breast cancer.
  • Late menopause start - People who start their menopause journey after 55 years can have higher risk of developing breast cancer.
  • Never having been pregnant - People who are never pregnant and who are full time pregnant can also increase the chance.
  • Previous breast cancer - If you have breast cancer on one side then you can also get by the other side or other parts of the previously affected breast.

Preventive measures for Breast Cancer

 

Lifestyle - Lifestyle is one of the main reasons for breast cancer. Because, Nowadays  no one follows a healthy diet and regular exercises. People who are obese can have higher risk than normal people. And alcohol is the second main reason. If you want to drink, then consult your doctor for how much is safer to drink.

Breast cancer screening - getting regular mammograms means you don't get any breast cancer, it just helps you out of finding and preventing breast cancer.

  • Ages 40 to 49 : An annual checking is not recommended, consult your doctor for your preferences.
  • Ages 50 to 74 : It is recommended to have every year.
  • Ages 75 years and older : Not recommended at all.

Preventive treatment
  • Get routine mammograms - After the age of 35, get regular checkup by mammograms every year
  • Examine your breasts - After the age of 20, you can familiarise yourself with your breast changes, so examine them by yourself.
  • Examine by a Physician - After the age of 20, you can examine your breast at least three years once. After the age of 35, you can examine yearly once. Mammograms wont detect lumps but clinical exams can detect it.

Types of breast cancer

There are many types of breast cancer. It mainly divides into two: invasive and non invasive. Non-invasive breast cancer is called as breast cancer in situ.

 Below are the detailed info about types of breast cancer -

  • Infiltrating (invasive) ductal carcinoma - It starts by entering through your nipple and entering into all other tissues to form a cancer. It is the most common cancer.
  • Ductal carcinoma in situ - Stage 0  breast cancer or ductal carcinoma in situ are considered as the previous stage of getting breast cancer because it can't spread beyond your nipple. Treatment is needed to avoid spreading to other tissues.
  • Infiltrating (invasive) lobular carcinoma - It can form from lobules of your breast (milk producing area). And also spread to other tissues to form tumors.It Occurs 10 to 15% of breast cancers.
  • Lobular carcinoma in situ - It's called a precancerous condition, cells that are abnormal in lobules of your breast. It is not at all true cancer, but it has potential to form cancer later on. So it’s important to have regular mammograms.
  • Triple negative breast cancer - This cancer is one of the most challenging breast cancers to treat. It makes treatment difficult.
  • Inflammatory breast cancer - This cancer is rare and aggressive. People with Inflammatory breast cancer can notice redness, swelling, pitting and scaling of their breast skin.
  • Paget’s disease of the breast - This can be caused by affecting nipples and nipple surrounding area.

Stages of Breast Cancer

Staging can help you know how much cancer is in your breast. Its determined by many risk factors like size and location of the tumor and whether they spread across the origin area. It includes


  • Stage 0 - This is non spreadable, It means , it is not spread beyond breast ducts.
  • Stage I - In this stage, cancer cells are spread to the nearby tissues.
  • Stage II - Tumor in breast under 2 cm and spread to under arm lymph nodes and tumors 5cm and it doesn’t spread to underarm lymph nodes.
  • Stage III - In this stage, tumor can spread beyond the origin area. But It can;t affect distant organs. It may spread across the lymph nodes. Normally, This stage is called locally advanced breast cancer.
  • Stage IV - This cancer has spread to many areas out of the breast like bones, liver,lungs and brain. This stage of cancer is called metastatic breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Diagnosis


  • Mammogram - This is like a special X-ray image. It helps to detect abnormal breast growth by your doctor. Mammograms are mainly used for prevention.
  • Ultrasonography - It uses the sound to capture the image of tissues inside your breast. It helps to detect breast lumps or abnormalities in your breast.
  • Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning - This scan uses special dyes to capture suspicious areas by marking them. This special dye was injected through veins by a doctor to capture images with the scanner.
  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) - This uses magnets and radio waves to capture the detailed and clear images of structure inside your breast.

Breast cancer Treatments

  1. Breast cancer surgery

  • Lumpectomy
  • Mastectomy
  • Sentinel node biopsy
  • Axillary lymph node dissection
  • Modified radical mastectomy.
  • Radical mastectomy

     2.Chemotherapy for breast cancer

    3.Radiation therapy for breast cancer

   4.Hormone therapy for breast cancer

  5.Immunotherapy for breast cancer

Conclusion

Breast cancer is the lead of any other cancer deaths among females. The survival rate of diagnosis is highly declining in the last 3 decades but no more loss of breast cancer deaths. Now all are well aware of this cancer. People may prevent this cancer by following a healthy lifestyle, diet and regular exercise and consulting doctors regularly and discussing screening age. This will help to find and prevent breast cancer.

Location: India

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