Fighting Bre*st Cancer

1. Chest wall. 2. Pectoralis muscles. 3. Lobules (glands that make milk). 4. Nipple surface. 5. Areola. 6. Lactiferous duct tube that carries milk to the nipple. 7. Fatty tissue. 8. Skin.

Bre*st cancer is a kind of cancer that originate from bre*st tissues most commonly from the inner lining of the milk ducts (lactiferous duct) or the lobules that supply milk to the ducts. 
Bre*st cancers that originate from milk ducts are called ductal carcinomas while those originating from bre*st lobules are known as lobular carcinomas.
Bre*st cancer grows when bre*st cell's DNA is damaged, but why or how that DNA becomes damaged is still unknown. It could be genetics or environmental or in most cases, a combination of the two.
The vast majority of bre*st cancer cases occur in females, male bre*st cancer can also occur but are rare.

Causes of Bre*st Cancer

When you're told that you have bre*st cancer, it's natural to wonder what may have caused the disease. But no one knows the exact cause of bre*st cancer. Doctors are not sure what causes bre*ast cancer. It is hard to say why one person develops the disease while another does not. What we do know is that some risk factors can impact on a woman's likelihood of developing bre*st cancer.
A risk factor is something that may increase the chance of getting a disease. Risk factors of bre*st cancer includes the following;

Gender: Bre*st cancer occurs nearly 100times more often in women than in men.

Age: Two out of three women with invasive cancer are diagnosed after age 55.

Race: Bre*st cancer is diagnosed more often in Caucasian women than women of other races.

Family History and Genetic Factors: If your mother, sister, father or child has been diagnosed with bre*st or ovarian cancer, you have a high risk of being diagnosed with bre*st cancer in the future.

Menstrual and Reproductive History: Early menstruation (before age 12), late menopause (after 55), having your first child at an older age, or never having given birth can also increase your risk for bre*st cancer.

Certain Genome Changes: Mutation in certain genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, can increase your risk for bre*st cancer.

Dense Bre*st Tissue: Having dense bre*st tissue can increase your risk for breast cancer and make lumps harder to detect.

Lack of Physical Activity: A sedentary lifestyle with little physical activity can increase your risk for bre*st cancer.

Poor Diet: A diet high in saturated fats and lacking fruits and vegetables can increase your risk for bre*st cancer.

Obesity or Overweight: This increases your risk for bre*st cancer. Your risk increases more if you have already gone through menopause.

Drinking Alcohol: Frequent alcohol consumption can increase your risk for bre*st cancer.

Radiation to the Chest: having radiation therapy to the chest before the age of 30 can increase your risk for bre*st cancer.

Combined Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT): Taking combined hormone replacement therapy, as prescribed for menopause, can increase your risk for bre*st cancer and increase the risk that the cancer will be detected at a more advanced stage.

 Types of Bre*st Cancer

The type of bre*st cancer an individual has can be determined using the following questions; is it invasive or non-invasive? or in what part of the bre*st did it begin?

Invasive Bre*st Cancer: Invasive (infiltrating) breast cancers spread outside the membrane that lines a duct or lobule, invading the surrounding tissues. The cancer cells can then travel to other parts of your body, such as the lymph nodes.

Non-invasive Bre*st Cancer: Non-invasive bre*st cancer refers to cancer in which the cells have remained within their place of origin — they haven't spread to bre*st tissue around the duct or lobule.

Ductal Carcinoma:  Ductal carcinoma is the most common type of bre*st cancer. This type of cancer forms in the lining of a milk duct within your bre*st. The ducts carry bre*st milk from the lobules, where it's made, to the nipple.

Lobular Carcinoma:  Lobular carcinoma starts in the lobules of the bre*st, where bre*st milk is produced. The lobules are connected to the ducts, which carry bre*st milk to the nipple.
Ductal and Lobular carcinomas can be either non-invasive or invasive depending on whether the cancer is still in the milk ducts or lobules or has spread to other tissues.

Sarcoma: Rarely bre*st cancer can begin in the connective tissue that's made up of muscles, fat and blood vessels. Cancer that begins in the connective tissue is called sarcoma.

Stages of Bre*st Cancer

There are four developmental stages of bre*st cancer.

Stage1 Bre*st Cancer: Stage1 bre*st cancer is split into two stages.
In stage 1A, the tumor is 2 centimeters or smaller and has not spread outside the breast.
In stage 1B, no tumor is found in the bre*st or the tumor is 2 centimeters or smaller. Small clusters of cancer cells (larger than 0.2 millimeter but not larger than 2 millimeters) are found in the lymph nodes.

Stage2 Bre*st Cancer: This is divided into two groups.
In stage 2A bre*st cancer, no tumor is found in the bre*st and cancer cells are found in 1 to 3 lymph nodes in the armpit or lymph nodes near the breastbone; OR the tumor is larger than 2 centimeters but not larger than 5 centimeters and has not spread to the lymph nodes.
In stage 2B bre*st cancer, the tumor is larger than 2 centimeters but not larger than 5 centimeters and small clusters of cancer cells are found in the lymph nodes; OR the tumor is larger than 2 centimeters but not larger than 5 centimeters and cancer is found in 1 to 3 lymph nodes in the armpit or lymph nodes near the bre*stbone; OR the tumor is larger than 5 centimeters and has not spread to the lymph nodes.

Stage3 Bre*st Cancer: This is divided into three groups.
In stage 3A bre*st cancer, no tumor is found in the bre*st or the tumor may be any size and cancer is found in 4 to 9 lymph nodes under the arm or lymph nodes near the bre*stbone; OR the tumor is larger than 5 centimeters and small clusters of cancer cells (larger than 0.2 millimeter but not larger than 2 millimeters) are found in the lymph nodes; OR the tumor is larger than 5 centimeters and cancer cells are found in 1 to 3 lymph nodes in the armpit or lymph nodes near the bre*stbone.
In stage 3B bre*st cancer, the tumor may be any size and cancer has spread to the chest wall and/or to the skin of the bre*st and caused swelling or an ulcer. Cancer may have spread to lymph nodes in the armpit or lymph nodes near the bre*stbone. Cancer that has spread to the skin of the bre*st may be inflammatory bre*st cancer.
In stage 3C bre*st cancer, no tumor is found in the bre*st or the tumor may be any size and may have spread to the chest wall and/or the skin of the bre*st. Also, cancer has spread to 10 or more lymph nodes in the aempit; OR to lymph nodes above or below the collarbone; OR to lymph nodes in the armpit and lymph nodes near the breastbone.

Stage4 of Bre*st Cancer: In stage4 bre*st cancer, the cancer has spread to other parts of the body, most often the bones, lungs, liver, or brain (metastasised). The tumor can be of any size and the lymph nodes may or may not contain cancer cells.

Signs and Symptoms of Bre*st Cancer

The first symptom of bre*st cancer is usually an area of thickened tissue in the woman's breast, or a lump.
Every person should know the symptoms and signs of bre*st cancer, and any time an abnormality is discovered, it should be investigated by a healthcare professional.
Signs and symptoms of bre*st cancer includes the following;
Nipple tenderness or a lump or thickening in or near the bre*st or underarm area.

• A change in the skin texture or an enlargement of pores in the skin of the bre*st  (some describe this as similar to an orange peel’s texture).
• A lump in the bre*st (It’s important to remember that all lumps should be investigated by a healthcare professional, but not all lumps are cancerous.).
• Any unexplained change in the size or shape of the bre*st.
• Dimpling anywhere on the bre*st.
• Unexplained swelling of the bre*st (especially if on one side only).
• Unexplained shrinkage of the bre*st (especially if on one side only).
• Recent asymmetry of the bre*sts (Although it is common for women to have one bre*st that is slightly larger than the other, if the onset of asymmetry is recent, it should be checked.).
• Nipple that is turned slightly inward or inverted.
• Skin of the bre*st, areola, or nipple that becomes scaly, red, or swollen or may have ridges or pitting resembling the skin of an orange.
•  It is also important to note that a milky discharge that is present when a woman is not bre*stfeeding should be checked by her doctor, although it is not linked with breast cancer.

Note: A symptom is only felt by the patient and is described to the doctor or nurse, such as headache, pain or blurred vision. A sign is something the patient and others can detect, for example, a rash or swelling.

 Inflammatory Bre*st Cancer

In inflammatory bre*st cancer, the cancer cells may not grow as a lump that can be felt in the bre*st. They grow along the tiny channels (lymph vessels) in the skin of the bre*st. This blocks the vessels.
The body reacts to the cancer cells in the lymph vessels and the bre*st becomes inflamed and swollen (which is how the condition gets its name). Lymph vessels are part of the lymphatic system. They drain fluid from tissues, collect and filter out bacteria and any waste materials from the body’s cells.

Inflammatory bre*ast cancer can easily be confused with a bre*st infection. Symptoms often develop quite suddenly. The bre*st looks red and inflamed and feels firm, warm and swollen. Ridges or raised marks may appear on the skin of the bre*st, or the skin may look pitted, like the peel of an orange (known as peau d’orange). Other symptoms may include a lump or thickening in the bre*st, pain in the bre*st or nipple, or a fluid (discharge) leaking from the nipple.

Inflammatory breast cancer is never a stage1 or stage2 because these stages (1 and 2) describes the size of the cancer. It starts at stage 3C in the number staging system because it involves the skin and may or may not have spread into surrounding muscle or to the lymph node in the armpit.

Male Bre*st Cancer

Bre*st cancer occurs mainly in women, but men can get it, too. Many people do not realize that men have bre*st tissue and that they can develop breast cancer.

Male bre*st cancer is most common in older men, though male bre*st cancer can occur at any age.

Men diagnosed with male bre*st cancer at an early stage have a good chance for a cure. Still, many men delay seeing their doctors if they notice unusual signs or symptoms, such as a bre*st lump. For this reason, many male bre*st cancers are diagnosed when the disease is more advanced.

Male bre*st cancer could be invasive or non-invasive ductal carcinoma, inflammatory, or paget disease of the nipple.

Paget disease of the nipple is a tumor that has grown from ducts beneath the nipple onto the surface of the nipple.

Lobular carcinoma which something occur in women, has not been seen in men.

Bre*st Cancer Treatment

 When deciding what treatment is best for you, your doctors will consider:

• the stage and grade of your cancer (how big it is and how far it has spread)
• your general health
• whether you have been through the menopause

You can discuss your treatment with your care team at any time and ask any questions.

Bre*st cancer is treated in several ways. It depends on the kind of bre*st cancer and how far it has spread. Treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, biologic therapy, or radiation. People with bre*st cancer often get more than one kind of treatment.

• Surgery. An operation where doctors cut out and remove cancer tissue.
• Chemotherapy. Using special medicines, or drugs to shrink or kill the cancer. The drugs can be pills you take or medicines given directly into your veins, or sometimes both.
• Hormonal therapy. Some cancers need certain hormones to grow. Hormonal treatment is used to block cancer cells from getting the hormones they need to grow.
• Biological therapy. This treatment works with your body's immune system to help it fight cancer or to control side effects from other cancer treatments. Side effects are how your body reacts to drugs or other treatments. Biological therapy is different from chemotherapy, which attacks cancer cells directly.
• Radiation. The use of high-energy rays (similar to X-rays) to kill the cancer cells. The rays are aimed at the part of the body where the cancer is located.

Healthy Tips

 

1. Avoid becoming overweight. Obesity raises the risk of breast cancer after menopause, the time of life when bre*st cancer most often occurs. Avoid gaining weight over time, and try to maintain a body-mass index under 25 (calculators can be found online).
2. Eat healthy to avoid tipping the scale. Embrace a diet high in vegetables and fruit and low in sugared drinks, refined carbohydrates and fatty foods. Eat lean protein such as fish or chicken bre*st and eat red meat in moderation, if at all. Eat whole grains. Choose vegetable oils over animal fats.
3. Keep physically active. Research suggests that increased physical activity, even when begun later in life, reduces overall bre*st-cancer risk by about 10 percent to 30 percent. All it takes is moderate exercise like a 30-minute walk five days a week to get this protective effect.
4. Drink little or no alcohol. Alcohol use is associated with an increased risk of bre*st cancer. Women should limit intake to no more than one drink per day, regardless of the type of alcohol.
5. Avoid hormone replacement therapy. Menopausal hormone therapy increases risk for bre*st cancer. If you must take hormones to manage menopausal symptoms, avoid those that contain progesterone and limit their use to less than three years. “Bioidentical hormones” and hormonal creams and gels are no safer than prescription hormones and should also be avoided.

6. Consider taking an estrogen-blocking drug. Women with a family history of bre*st cancer or who are over age 60 should talk to their doctor about the pros and cons of estrogen-blocking drugs such as tamoxifen and raloxifene.

7. Consider taking the aromatase inhibitor exemestane.  The results of a study released earlier this year showed that the drug exemestane reduced the risk of bre*st cancer by 65 percent in high-risk, postmenopausal women. Talk to your doctor about whether this may benefit you.
8. Don’t smoke. Research suggests that long-term smoking is associated with increased risk of bre*st cancer in some women.
9. Bre*st-feed your babies for as long as possible. Women who bre*st-feed their babies for at least a year in total have a reduced risk of developing bre*st cancer later.
10. Get fit and support bre*st cancer research at the same time. Regular physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of bre*st cancer.

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