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Breast Cancer
There are various types of cancer in this world: pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, ovarian cancer, etc… breast cancer is the third most deadly type of cancer and it is responsible for 7.4% of cancer related deaths right behind lung cancer and colon cancer. Breast cancer is the abnormal growth of uncontrollable cell division in the breast region. Breast cancer affects men and women.
What is it?
Breast cancer is a disease that affects men and women all over the world. Breast cancer can be described as an uncontrollable growth of malignant cells in the breast area. Often times it results in women getting breast cancer shortly before, during, or after menopause. Three quarters of all cases of breast cancer are diagnosed after 50 years of age.
Causes
Breast cancer causes are unknown but genetic factors and environmental factors are involved. The genetic factors involve mutations in genes called HER2, BRCA1, BRCA2, CHEK2, and P53 which have all been directly linked to breast cancer, these mutations can be inherited or acquired over time. Often times the mutations that are inherited increase a person’s risk for developing breast cancer. As an example 12% of women in the general population develop breast cancer, about 60% of the people who inherit mutations in The BRCA1 or BRCA2 at some point develop the disease. Another factor in developing breast cancer is a prolonged exposure to the hormone estrogen usually occurring when menstruation starts before 12 years of age or continue passed age 50.
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Types of Breast Cancer
There are several types and symptoms of breast cancer tumors, some of them are cellular composition, cellular origin, and activity. Most cellular level breast cancers are distinguished with the receptor status that are either hormone receptor positive or hormone receptor negative. Knowing the receptor status is very important because it helps decide what treatment is needed. Hormone receptor positive cancers grow slower than hormone receptor negative cancers.
If the cancer is hormone receptor positive that means it is either positive for estrogen or progesterone receptors, this information shows that the cancer can possibly be stopped by blocking the cancers estrogen supply. Hormone receptor negative cancers don’t have estrogen or progesterone receptors meaning hormone therapy drugs are used for these cancers. In all the cases of breast cancer most of them start in the glandular tissues that either produce milk or provide passage for milk to the nipple. These cancers are called lobular carcomas and ductile carcoma. About 70% of all breast cancer cases stem from these tumors.
Treatment
There are various forms of treatments available for breast cancer, the treatment options or sequence of the treatments are chosen by the type of cancer and stage of development. These treatment options include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and hormonal therapy. Surgery, in most cases, is the first line of attack against breast cancer there are two types of surgerys one can choose from. This treatment is used to try and cut out the cancer and remove it from the body completely. The first option for surgery is a mastectomy, a mastectomy is the removal of the entire breast and sometimes other tissues in the breast area as well.
The second option is a lumpectomy, a lumpectomy is a breast conserving surgery, what this means is the doctors will take out as little non cancerous breast tissue as possible. Chemotherapy treatment is a tactic that uses medicine to go in and destroy cancer cells in the body; it goes after the original cancer site and anywhere else cancer cells may have spread to within in the body. There are three different types of chemotherapy one can choose from. The first option would take place after the cancer patient had the surgery to try and kill the remaining cancer cells that couldn’t be removed by the surgery this type of chemotherapy is called adjuvant chemotherapy.
The second option for chemotherapy occurs before surgery, they use this type of chemotherapy to shrink the tumor/ cancerous cells to conserve as much breast tissue as possible, this type of chemotherapy is called neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The third and final option for chemotherapy is for advanced breast cancer patients where the cancer has spread throughout the breasts and into the under arm area this chemotherapy would be used as the main treatment for the cancer.
Radiation therapy is highly effective and highly targeted treatment used to destroy any cancer cells in the breast area that may have not been taken out during surgery there are three types of radiation therapies to choose from. The first type is called external whole breast radiation, this type of radiation uses a large machine called a linear accelerator, this machine aims a bean of high energy radiation at the cancer infected breast.
The second form of radiation therapy is called internal radiation, this treatment uses small pieces of radioactive material and place them around the area the cancer was. The third and last type of radiation therapy is called intraoperative radiation, this type of radiation is actually given during the lumpectomy surgery after the cancer has been removed, they give a single high dose of radiation directly to the area the cancer was while the tissue is still exposed. Lastly hormone therapies treat hormone receptor positive breast cancer, they do this by either lowering the amount of hormones estrogen in the body or by blocking the action of estrogen on the breast cancer cells.
How to Prevent it
There’s no way to completely prevent breast cancer but you can reduce the risk of developing advanced breast cancer by several means. One may do this by maintaining a healthy body weight, a decrease in the consumption of alcohol or not consuming alcohol at all, and lastly not smoking or consuming any tobacco products. Individuals can also try to catch breast abnormalities themselves. Women can do this by performing a monthly breast self-examination. This is recommended for women over the age 20 as a first line of detection.
A women should also get a breast examinations by a healthcare professional every three years for women 20-39 years of age, as well as a yearly mammogram for all women 40 and older. The high-risk women may benefit from taking Tamoxifen to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer. Lastly women with a very strong family history or presence of a mutated BRCA gene may opt for a primitive single or double mastectomy to exponentially reduce their risk of developing cancer.
Works Cited
- ‘Breast cancer.’ Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 24 Aug. 2016. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/breast-cancer/16308. Accessed 6 Nov. 2018.
- “Breast Cancer Hormone Receptor Status.” American Cancer Society, www.cancer.org/cancer/breast-cancer/understanding-a-breast-cancer-diagnosis/breast-ca
- ‘Breast Cancer.’ World of Health, Gale, 2000. Student Resources In Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CV2191500189/SUIC?u=selm33247&sid=SUIC&xid=d84b1c42. Accessed 6 Nov. 2018.
- “Intraoperative Radiation.” Breastcancer.org, www.breastcancer.org/treatment/radiation/types/intraoperative.
- “Top 5 Killer Cancers.” HealthGuidance, www.healthguidance.org/entry/15796/1/top-5-killer-cancers.html.
- “Treatment and Side Effects.” Breastcancer.org, www.breastcancer.org/treatment.
- “Types of Breast Cancer: Non-Invasive, Invasive and More.” Breastcancer.org, www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/types.
