Breast Cancer- Cause, Prevention, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Cure!

18 Nov, 2020

• Breast cancer is defined as cancer that gets formed in the breast cells of a male or woman.
• If we talk about women, it is the second most diagnosed cancer after skin cancer in the United States.
• Substantial support in the form of research funding and breast cancer wakefulness has led to the creation of advanced breast cancer’s diagnosis and treatment.
• With the help of better disease understanding and a personalized treatment approach, the number of deaths related to breast cancer has reduced significantly while the survival rate has increased a lot.

Cancer Causes

• It is a known fact that the occurrence of breast cancer is due to the sole reason of the abnormal growth of some cells in the breast.
• These unhealthy cells quickly divide and go on to accumulate, leading to the formation of a lump/mass.
• Then there is the risk of spreading these cells (metastasize) throughout your breast to your other body parts, including lymph nodes.
• The beginning of breast cancer is mostly when unhealthy cells are formed in ducts that produce milk (invasive ductal carcinoma).
• Apart from this, breast cancer also starts in the glandular tissue known as lobules (invasive lobular carcinoma) or in breast tissue or other cells.
• As per the researchers, the factors that may boost the risk levels of breast cancer have been known to be related to hormones, lifestyle, and environment.
• However, it is still unclear why people with zero risk factors go on to developing cancer, while other people with risk factors do not develop it at all.

Cancer Stages

Although each cancer stage is further categorized by substages (characterized by the tumor, like HER2 receptor status), the primary cancer stages consist of the following:

Stage 0: Recognized as ductal carcinoma within situ (DCIS), here, the cancer cells are restricted inside the ducts and have not yet invaded neighboring tissues.

Stage 1: During this stage, the size of the tumor is measured up to 2 centimeters (cm) from corner to corner. It has not disturbed lymph nodes at all, or there exist little cancer cells’ groups in the lymph nodes.

Stage 2: This is the stage where the tumor (2 cm across) has begun to multiply to surrounding nodes or expands (2–5 cm across) but has not begun to multiply to lymph nodes.

Stage 3: By this stage, the tumor expands gradually (up to 5 cm across) and begins to multiply to various lymph nodes or expands even further and also reaches some lymph nodes.

Stage 4: The final stage of cancer, where it starts to spread to faraway organs, mostly the liver, bones, lungs, or brain.

Cancer Symptoms

Breast cancer’s signs and symptoms may include:

• A breast lump/thickening that is indifferent from the neighboring tissue
• A change in the breasts’ shape, size, or appearance
• A change in the exterior of the skin covering the breast, like dimpling
• A recently inverted nipple
• Crusting, scaling, flaking, or peeling of the pigmented area of neighboring breast skin or the nipple (areola) skin
• Redness/pitting of the skin covering your breast, such as an orange’s skin

Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Tests/procedures for diagnosing breast cancer include:

• Breast Examination 
  

This includes checking your armpit’s lymph nodes and both the breasts in order to sense any abnormalities or lump formation.

• Mammogram
  

This includes taking your breasts’ X-ray for detecting any abnormality on the screening mammogram. If anything is witnessed, further evaluation may be done for detailing.

• Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
  

Radio waves and a magnet are used in an MRI machine for creating images of the breasts’ interior without using any radiation. An injection of dye is provided prior to a breast MRI. 

• Breast Ultrasound

With the help of Ultrasound, sound waves are used to create images of structures deep inside the body to search for a new breast lump and determine whether it is a fluid-filled cyst or solid mass.

• Biopsy

This is probably the best technique for detecting cancer and includes removing a breast cell. In this, a specialized needle device is used that is guided by an imaging test or X-ray for extracting a tissue core from the dubious area.

The collected tissue sample is sent to the lab to determine the cancer nature of the cells, including its type for the right treatment.

Cancer Treatment

There are multiple ways to treat breast cancer. It all depends on the type of breast cancer that exists and its progress. Patients having breast cancer usually go through more than one treatment type, such as:

• Surgery
  

This includes an operation where cancer tissues are cut by the doctors.

• Hormonal Therapy
  

This type of treatment helps in blocking the hormones needed by cancer cells for growth.

• Biological Therapy
  

 In this, your body’s immune system is used to help reduce side effects from various cancer treatments or fight cancer cells.

• Chemotherapy

In this, special medicines are given to patients to kill or shrink the cancer cells. The drugs can be in the form of pills or medicines provided to you in your veins, or at times both.

• Radiation Therapy
  

This involves the usage of high-energy rays (like X-rays) for killing the cancer cells.

Conclusion

• Breast cancer is surely risky cancer which if not identified and treated at the earliest may lead to serious consequences for a person in the future.
• It is recommended to conduct a full body check-up from time to time in order to detect any cancerous activity in the body at the beginning itself.
• Irrespective of whether you are a male or a female, if you experience any of the symptoms stated above, it is essential that you take the right treatment fast.
• If you are uncertain what type of treatment is best suited for you, you may consult with your doctor or seek professional advice from a top primary care provider like Central Valley Medical Providers.
• Also, you can consult for any other health ailment, especially concerning the elderly in your home or neighbourhood.

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