|  |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
Printable Version
E-mail to a Friend
APA | MLA | |
Introduction
Breast cancer is only one of 200 different types of cancer. It is considered a woman’s disease but both men and women have the disease.
Every year, more than 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer. Twelve percent of all women will get the disease and 3.5% of them will die. Breast cancer is the leading cause of death among women who are 40 to 55 years old.
Cancer occurs when cells divide uncontrollably. Cells keep dividing even though new cells are not needed. Change from normal to cancerous cells requires gene alterations. Altered genes and uncontrolled growth may lead to tumors. These tumors can be benign (NOT cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Benign tumors won’t spread but it can damage tissues around it. Malignant tumors invade, damage, and destroy nearby tissues and can spread.
Cancer can spread throughout the body when cancer cells break away from malignant tumors and enter the bloodstream. Cancer cells from breast cancer are mostly found in the lymph nodes under the arm when it “spreads.“ When cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it has the same name as the original cancer. So, if you breast cancer ends up in your lungs, it is still called breast cancer!
Breast cancer usually occur in women between the ages of 35 and 65, even though fifty percent of all breast cancer are of women sixty-five and older. The chances of women getting breast cancer has risen within the last couple decades. Between 1973 and 1989, the chance of getting breast cancer rose, on average, at 1.7% per year. In 1960, one out of twenty women had breast cancer. Sadly, it is now one out of nine.
Causes
Even though the exact cause of cancer is unknown, there are many factors that increase your chance of getting the disease. These factors only account for only 30% of all cases of breast cancer. The other 70% are unknown.
Family members with breast cancer - A family history of breast cancer may increase your risk of breast cancer. But just because someone in your family has breast cancer does not mean you will have it too. About 75% of patients with breast cancer do not have a family history of breast cancer
Early menstruation, late menopause - Menstruation before the age of 12 and menopause after the age of 50 can increase your risk of cancer.
Age - Women who are older have a higher risk than women who are younger. Also, women who have their first pregnancy after the age of 40 may get the disease.
diet/food - Food with less fat and more fiber are safer. Being obese may also increase your risk.
chemicals - Researchers in the New York State Department of Health have found that women on Long Island who grew up within a mile of a chemical plant have a greater chance of getting breast cancer if they lived further away from the chemical plant.
race - Even though white women are more likely to get cancer than African-American women, African-American women are more likely to die from cancer. Asian, Hispanic, and American Indian women have a lower risk of getting breast cancer.
Birth control pills - A study showed that women using birth control pills have a slightly greater risk of breast cancer.
Hormone replacement therapy - Most studies suggest that use of HRT for relief of menopause symptoms for more than 5 years may slightly increase the risk of breast cancer.
Alcohol - Women who have 2 to 5 drinks daily have about 1 1/2 times the risk of women who drink no alcohol.
Symptoms
There are several symptoms of breast cancer. Early cancer may not show any symptoms at all but as time goes by and the cancer grows, there may be symptoms.
You may get a lump or a thickening in or near the breast. Change in its shape or contour, swelling, thickening, pore enlargement, retraction or scaliness of the nipple, nipple discharge, pain or tenderness. It is usually found in a person’s breast as a hard lump that is painless. In some cases, pain and tenderness may occur. Bloody discharges occur in about 33% of patients with breast cancer.
Your breast may also begin to look and feel different. Your breasts may look like
an orange peel with ridges and pitting of the breast. Your breasts and nipples may also become warm, swollen, red, or scaly.
Types of breast cancer
Ductal Carcinoma in Situ
Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS) is an early type of breast cancer. This type develops within the milk duct but it generally has no symptoms. This type of breast cancer is non-invasive, which means it “stays” where it is developed in. Even so, if it is left untreated, it may eventually spread into other parts of the breast.
DCIS is also referred to as a Stage 0 breast cancer.
Lobular carcinoma
This type of breast cancer begins in the lobules, where milk is produced.
Invasive Ductal Carcinoma
This is the most common type of breast cancer. 80% of all cases of breast cancer is of this type. They originate from the ducts, but unlike DCIS, it is invasive, which means it may spread to other parts of the breast.
Invasive Lobular Carcinoma
This type, which is 10 to 15 percent of all invasive breast cancers, start at the lobule, the milk-producing glands, and spread.
Medullary Carcinoma
This type of invasive breast cancer accounts for 5% of all breast cancers.
Colloid Carcinoma
This type of cancer is also called Mucinous Carcinoma. It is formed by mucus producing cancer cells.
Tubular Carcinoma
This type of breast cancer accounts for 2% of all breast cancers.
Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma
This type of cancer is usually found in the salivary glands, but in rare cases, they develop in the breasts.
Inflammatory breast cancer
Inflammatory breast cancer is rare but very serious. In some cases, you may see ridges, welts, or hives on your breast. In other cases your skin may look wrinkled.
Stages of breast cancer
Stage 1
Tumor is less than 2 centimeters in greatest dimension and is only in the breasts
Stage 2
A) The cancer is no larger than 2 centimeters but it has spread to the lymph
nodes under the arm.
The cancer is 2 to 5 centimeters but has not spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
B) The cancer is 2 to 5 centimeters and has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
The cancer is larger than 5 centimeters but has not spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
Stage 3
A) The cancer is smaller than 5 centimeters and has spread to the lymph nodes, and the lymph nodes are attached to each other or other structures.
The cancer is larger than 5 centimeters and has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm.
B) The cancer has spread to tissues near the breast in the ribs and the muscles in the chest.
The cancer has spread to lymph nodes inside the chest wall along the breast bone.
Stage 4
The cancer has spread to other parts of the body such as the bones, lungs, liver, or brain.
Diagnosis
There are several tests used in the diagnosis of breast cancer.
Mammography
A mammography is an x-ray taken to examine the breasts. It is usually taken on women over the age of 35. It is not taken on younger women because they have denser breast tissues and this can make it difficult to detect anything on the mammogram.
Ultrasound
An ultrasound is used to see if a lump is solid or if it contains fluid. A small device, which emits sound waves, is passed over the breasts. The echoes are converted into a picture of the breast tissue by a computer.
Fine needle aspiration
Using a fine needle and syringe, a sample of cells from the lump on the breast is taken. It is taken to a lab where it is tested to see if it contains any “bad” cells.
Needle biopsy
The area of the breast where the lump is present is numbed. A needle is then used to take a biopsy, a small piece of tissue. It is then taken to a lab where it is checked for cancer.
Blood tests
You blood may be tested to see if it contains any particular chemicals which are sometimes produced by cancer cells.
Excision biopsy
The whole lump is removed and sent to a lab for examination.
Treatment
It is important to know about the cancer before you can start the treatment. Lab
tests are done to learn about the cancer. There are several options that the patient can choose from. In order to choose the best treatment for you, the doctor would want to know the size of your tumor and if the tumor is present in other parts of your body.
Surgery
Most people have surgery to remove their tumors. There are several types of surgery such as Lumpectomy and Partial or segmental mastectomy.
Two main types of surgery
Lumpectomy - Thos type of surgery is the removal of the tumor and the tissue around it. Sometimes, the doctor may also take out the lymph nodes under the arm. This type of surgery is usually followed by radiation therapy.
Partial or segmental mastectomy - In this type of surgery the cancer is removed as well as the tissue around it and the lining over the chest muscles below the tumor. The lymph nodes under the arm may also be removed. This type of surgery may also be followed by radiation.
Radiation therapy
In radiation therapy, high-energy x-rays are used to kill cancer. Radiation may come from a machine from outside the body or a material may be placed inside the body that produces radiation through thin plastic tubes.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy involves the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. Some of the drugs are injected into the vein or the muscle. Others are given by mouth. The drugs flow through the bloodstream into nearly every part of the body.
Hormone therapy
Hormone therapy changes the way the hormones in the body help the cancer cells grow. Hormone therapy may be done by using drugs to change the way the hormones work or by surgery to take out the organs that make the hormones.
Biological therapy
Biological therapy uses materials that are synthetic or formed naturally by the body to restore the body’s defenses against diseases. This treatment is currently only being given in clinical trials.
Bone marrow transplantation
When the breast cancer becomes resistant to radiation or chemotherapy, very high doses of chemotherapy may be used to treat the cancer. Because this type of chemotherapy can damage or destroy the bone marrow, it is taken from the bones before treatment and frozen.
Leukapheresis
The patient’s blood is passed through a machine that removes the stem cells (immature cells where blood cells develop). The stem cells are treated with drugs to kill cancer cells. They are then transplanted back into the patient.
Side effects of the treatment
There are side effects occur with breast cancer, just like any other treatment for any other disease. In any type of cancer treatment, patients may have a loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and mouth sores.
Surgery
The side effects of surgery depend on the location of the tumor, the type of operation, and other factors. Pain from the operation can be controlled with medicine.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy drugs kill rapidly growing cancer cells, but it also kills some “healthy” cells. These healthy cells include blood cells, cells that line the digestive tract, and cells in hair follicles. This results in side effects such as infections, tiredness, temporary hair loss, and mouth sores. And because the drugs lower the patient’s blood count, it may cause anemia. It may also cause the patient to bruise more easily.
Radiation
Radiation may cause a decrease in the number of white blood cells. Other side effects are tiredness, rashes or redness in treated areas, and loss of appetite.
Chances of recovery
Most women treated for early types of cancer live healthy lives after the recovery. But your chance of recover depends on many factors such as the type and stage of your breast cancer, how fast the cancer is spreading, how much the cancer cells depend on female hormones for growth, your age, your menopausal status, and your health.
Still looking for the right essay?
Try our Premium Essay collection!
This essay is copyrighted by the author and maintained
by GotEssays.Com for research purposes only!
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
