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Breast cancer is the second highest cause of death among women. Women are also one hundred times more likely than men to develop breast cancer. There are various types of breast cancer, which can be aggressive or slow growing and, if left untreated, can metastasize into the surrounding lymph tissue. From there it can spread into the rest of the body.
Possible symptoms of breast cancer include:
1. Change in the breast’s size or shape.
2. A lump (mass), swelling or thickening within the breast. These lumps are not always painful but can occur in the breast or in the underarm area.
3. Warm or even hot patches in the breast.
4. A flattening or indentation on the skin of the breast indicating a change in the underlying tissue.
5. Redness or scaling of the breast’s skin.
6. Unusual dimpling in the breast.
7. Discharge from the nipple. This can be dark and bloody or clear in nature.
8. Itching, burning or scaling nipples.
9. Persistent pain or tenderness in the breast or underarm area.
If any of these symptoms are present, a doctor will usually want to do a mammogram and/or an ultrasound to rule out other conditions such as:
1. Mastitis – Mastitis is when there is an infection or inflammation of the breast(s).
2. Fibrocystic breast disease - A non-cancerous condition that involves lumpiness, cysts or irregularities in the breasts. This may or may not cause pain to the patient.
3. Abscesses – Abscesses are localized pus filled pockets that develop in the breast.
Monthly self-examinations, regular mammograms and yearly check-ups are the key to catching breast cancer in its early stages. Ten percent of patients with breast cancer originally reported no pain, lumps or other problems with their breasts.
Any changes that may be noticed by women or men while performing a self-exam should be discussed with your doctor as soon as possible.
If a lump or pain is felt, the doctor will most likely perform a physical exam that will include questions about family history, palpation of the breast, nipple discharge exam, mammogram and possibly an ultrasound. If the results of these lead your doctor to believe there may be cancerous cells, he or she will request further testing that may include:
1. Fine needle aspiration – This is when a very small sample of tissue is taken by a fine needle from the suspicious area.
2. Core needle biopsy – A larger needle will be used to acquire a greater amount of tissue.
3. Image-guided biopsy – These are biopsies that are acquired with the aid of and ultrasound.
4. Surgical biopsy – This type of biopsy will require a surgeon who will remove part or possibly even all of the area. The tissue removed will then have a pathological examination done to check for cancerous cells.
When dealing with breast cancer, there are certain risk factors that have nothing to do with lifestyles but cannot be changed or ignored.
Some risk factors include:
1. Family history – If a close family member such as a mother, sister or grandmother has had breast cancer the risk factor for developing the disease increases.
2. Gender- Women are one hundred times more likely than men to develop breast cancer but it should be remembered that some men DO develop the condition.
3. Age – The majority of all breast cancer (77 percent) occurs in women over the age of 50. There are relatively few cases of breast cancer in women between the ages of twenty to twenty-four.
4. Early onset of menstruation – Risk factor increases if the patient began menstruating earlier than the normal age of nine to twelve years.
5. Late menopause – Menopause began later than the average forty years from first menstrual period.
6. Race – Of all age women, Caucasian women have a higher incidence of breast cancer while African-American women have a higher fatality rate.
7. Personal history – There is a high risk in women who have had breast cancer to have it again.
8. Benign conditions – These include women who have fibrocystic breast disease.
In addition to these risks there are also lifestyle risks that can be controlled or eliminated.
1. Smoking- Smoking, especially when using oral contraceptives.
2. Alcohol
3. Not Having Children – Not having children actually increases the chances of breast cancer.
4. Not Breastfeeding – Not breastfeeding also increases the chances of breast cancer.
5. Obesity – Being overweight and/or eating a high fat diet.
6. Physical Activity – Exercise reduces the risk of breast cancer.
7. Not Using Oral Contraceptives – Use of oral contraceptives keeps the hormonal level equalized and can reduce the chance of breast cancer.
8. Abortion – Induced (elective) abortion increases the chances of breast cancer.
9. Breast implants – Certain types of breast implants have shown to increase the chances of breast cancer.
While certain risk factors may increase the chances of breast cancer they do not always cause the disease.
The American Cancer Society estimates:
1. Women in the United States have a one in eight chance of developing breast cancer and a one in twenty-eight chance of dying from it.
2. Excluding skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common of cancers among women.
3. Approximately 175,000 new cases of breast cancer in females and 1,300 cases in men are diagnosed annually.
4. There is approximately 43,300 fatalities of women due to breast cancer and 400 of men annually.
5. The five-year survival rate for localized breast cancer is ninety-seven percent while the ten-year survival rate is sixty-nine percent. The fifteen-year survival rate drops down to fifteen percent.
Because the early detection of breast cancer is the key to survival, every woman regardless of age should do a monthly breast exam as well as a yearly breast and pelvic exam. It is recommended women over the age of forty receive an annual mammogram as well as the physical exam. Any man or woman who feels a change in their breast’s size, shape or texture, who has a discharge or a burning, itching sensation of the nipples or has pain, inflammation or redness of the breast should schedule an appointment with their doctor at the earliest opportunity. While many of these symptoms may be caused by benign, non-cancerous causes, the possibility that it could be actual breast cancer isn’t worth the risk of ignoring it when the statistics show a woman has a one in eight chance of developing breast cancer at some point in her lifetime.
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