Knowledge is said to be power, and with the right knowledge, you can avoid certain illnesses. We will be sharing a quick overview of breast cancer in this post. Reading through this post will give you a pretty fair knowledge of breast cancer. So let’s dive in.
The WHO carried out research, and discovered that about 2.3 million women are diagnosed with breast cancer globally, and 685 000 of that number results in death. Making breast cancer the world’s most prevalent cancer. Breast cancer occurs in every country of the world in women at any age after puberty but with increasing rates in later life. But before we move on, let’s find out what breast cancer is.
What is breast cancer?
Just like other forms of cancer that occurs when changes called mutatioto take place in genes that regulate cell growth, breast cancer develops in breast cells. Typically, the cancer forms in either the lobules or the ducts of the breast.
Lobules are the milk-producing glands of the breast. Breast ducts are the thin tubes that carry breast milk from the lobules of the breast to the nipple. Sometimes, cancer also occurs in the fatty tissue or the fibrous connective tissue within your breast.
Furthermore, when these mutatiooccur, they let the cells divide and multiply in an uncontrolled way. The uncontrolled cancer cells often invade other healthy breast tissue and can travel to the lymph nodes under the arms. Once cancer enters the lymph nodes, it has access to a pathway to move to other parts of the body. Sometimes though, it moves through your bloodstream to other organs.
Who Gets Breast Cancer?
Usually, when you hear breast cancer, what comes to your mind is a woman’s breast, but it would interest you to know that men Men can get breast cancer too, though they account for less than 1% of all breast cancer cases.
On the other hand, among women, breast cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed, after skin cancer, and the second leading cause of cancer deaths, after lung cancer. Knowing who gets breast cancer let’s move to the sigand symptoms of breast cancer.
Sigand symptoms of breast cancer
During the early days of breast cancer, finding symptoms can be almost impossible. This is so because a tumor may be too small to be felt, although an abnormality can still be seen on a mammogram.
Additionally, Breast cancer presents itself as a painless lump or thickening in the breast. This is why it is important that whenever women find an abnormal lump in the breast, they consult a health practitioner without a delay of more than 1-2 months even when there is no pain associated with it. Seeking medical attention at the first sign of a potential symptom allows for more successful treatment.
On a general note, symptoms of breast cancer include
- a breast lump or thickening;
- change in size, shape, or appearance of a breast;
- dimpling, redness, pitting, or other change in the skin;
- change in nipple appearance or alteration in the skin surrounding the nipple (areola); and/or
- Abnormal nipple discharge.
- upturned nipple
- peeling, scaling, or flaking of skin on your nipple or breast
- a lump or swelling under your arm
- breast pain
although if you are experiencing any of the above symptoms it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have breast cancer. For example, a pain in your breast or a breast lump can be caused by a benign cyst. However, to be on the safe side, once you notice any of the above symptoms, it is best you see your doctor for a checkup.
Types of breast cancer
Breast cancer is of different types, however, they are broken into two main categories, they are, invasive and noninvasive. Noninvasive breast cancer is also known as breast cancer in situ.
The invasive cancer is that which has spread or invaded the surrounding breast tissue. While the noninvasive is that which has not spread from the original tissue.
These two categories are used to describe the most common types of breast cancer, which include:
- Ductal carcinoma in situ. Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a noninvasive condition. With DCIS, the cancer cells are restricted to the ducts in your breast and haven’t occupied the surrounding breast tissue.
- Lobular carcinoma in situ. Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) is a cancer that develops in the milk-producing glands of your breast. Like DCIS, this is also a noninvasive type of cancer.
- Invasive ductal carcinoma. Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) is the most popular type of breast cancer. This type of breast cancer begiin your breast’s milk ducts and then invades nearby tissue in the breast. Once the breast cancer has spread to the tissue outside the milk ducts, it begito spread to other nearby orgaand tissue.
- Invasive lobular carcinoma. Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) first grows in your breast’s lobules and has invaded nearby tissue.
Other, less common types of breast cancer include:
- Paget disease of the nipple. This type of breast cancer starts in the ducts of the nipple, but as it develops, it begito affect the skin and areola of the nipple.
- Phyllodes tumor. This very rare type of breast cancer grows in the connective tissue of the breast. Most of these tumors are nonthreatening, but some are cancerous.
- This is cancer that grows on the blood vessels or lymph vessels in the breast.
The type of cancer you have helps guide your treatment optioand long-term outcome.
Causes Of Breast Cancer
Breast cancer can actually be caused by various reasons. Some of which are:
A previous history of breast cancer
A lady who had breast cancer in one breast before has a higher risk of getting breast cancer in the other breast.
Significant family history
If probably a family member or family members have had breast cancer in the past, then patients may have a higher risk of developing breast cancer.
Furthermore, Family history has long been known to be a risk factor for breast cancer. Both maternal and paternal relatives are important. The risk is highest if the affected relative developed breast cancer at a young age, had cancer in both breasts, or if she is a close relative. First-degree relatives, (mother, sister, daughter) are most important in estimating risk.
Several second-degree relatives (grandmother, aunt) with breast cancer may also increase the risk. Breast cancer in a male increases the risk for all his close female relatives. BRCA1 and BRCA2 are abnormal genes that, when inherited, markedly increase the risk of breast cancer to a lifetime risk estimated between 40 and 8S%. Women who have the BRCA1 gene tend to develop breast cancer at an early age.
Hormonal causes
Changes in hormonal levels may quicken breast cancer. It could show up by starting and stopping periods (Menstrual Cycle), Pregnancy at an early age, Hormonal replacement therapy, Use of oral pills, etc.
Lifestyle and dietary cause
An inactive lifestyle and high dietary consumption of fat obesity especially in postmenopausal women may cause breast cancer. The use of alcohol is also another cause of breast cancer. The risk increases with the amount of alcohol consumed. Women who drink two to five alcoholic drinks per day have a risk of about one and a half times that of nondrinkers for the development of breast cancer.
Breast cancer stages
Doctors split breast cancer into stages based on the extent of the tumor and how much it has covered around the breast.
Cancers that are big or have invaded nearby tissues or orgaare at a higher stage than cancers that are small or still contained in the breast. To determine what stage of breast cancer one has, doctors need to know:
- if the cancer is invasive or noninvasive
- how large the tumor is
- whether the lymph nodes are involved
- if cancer has spread to nearby tissue or organs
Breast cancer has five main stages: stages 0 to 4.
Stage 0 breast cancer
- Stage 0 is DCIS. Cancer cells in DCIS remain confined to the ducts in the breast and have not spread into nearby tissue.
Stage 1 breast cancer
- Stage 1A. The main tumor is 2 centimeters (cm) wide or less. In this stage, the lymph nodes are not affected.
- Stage 1B. Cancer is found in nearby lymph nodes. Either there is no tumor in the breast, or the tumor is smaller than 2 cm.
Stage 2 breast cancer
- Stage 2A. In this stage, it is either the tumor is lesser than 2 cm and has spread to 1 to 3 nearby lymph nodes, or it’s between 2 and 5 cm and hasn’t spread to any lymph nodes.
- Stage 2B. The tumor is between 2 and 5 cm and has spread to 1 to 3 axillary (armpit) lymph nodes, or it’s larger than 5 cm and hasn’t spread to any lymph nodes.
Stage 3 breast cancer
- Stage 3A.
Cancer has spread to 4 to 9 axillary lymph nodes or has enlarged the internal mammary lymph nodes. The primary tumor can be any size.
Tumors are greater than 5 cm. Cancer has spread to 1 to 3 axillary lymph nodes or any breastbone nodes.
- Stage 3B.
In this stage, a tumor has attacked the chest wall or skin and may or may not have invaded up to 9 lymph nodes.
- Stage 3C.
Cancer is found in 10 or more axillary lymph nodes, lymph nodes near the collarbone, or internal mammary nodes.
Stage 4 breast cancer (metastatic breast cancer)
Stage 4 breast cancer can have a tumor of any size. Its cancer cells have spread to nearby and distant lymph nodes as well as distant organs.
After testing you, your doctor will determine the stage of your breast cancer, which will then affect the treatment you get.
Breast Cancer Diagnosis
If you feel a lump in your breast, your doctor will begin the breast cancer diagnosis process. At the hospital, the doctors will ask about your personal and family health background. Then, they’ll do a breast exam and order tests that include:
- Imaging tests. Here, your doctor will use these images to learn more about your breast.
- Ultrasound. This test uses sound waves to take a picture of your breast.
- Mammogram. This detailed X-ray gives doctors a better view of lumps and other problems.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This body scan uses a magnet linked to a computer to form detailed images of the insides of your breasts.
Biopsy. For this test, the doctor removes tissue or fluid from your breast. They look at it under a microscope to check for cancer cells and, if they’re there, the doctors learn which type they are.
Common procedures include:
- Fine-needle aspiration. This is for easy-to-reach lumps or those that might be filled with fluid.
- Core-needle biopsy. This type uses a bigger needle to remove a piece of tissue.
- Surgical (open) biopsy. A surgeon removes the entire lump along with nearby breast tissue.
- Lymph node biopsy. The doctor removes a part of the lymph nodes under your arm to see if cancer has spread.
- Image-guided biopsy. The doctor uses imaging to guide the needle.
Breast cancer treatment
The stage of breast cancer, how far it has invaded, and how big the tumor has grown all play a large part in determining what kind of treatment you’ll need.
To begin, your doctor will determine your cancer’s size, stage, and grade using the diagnosis from the test. Your cancer’s grade describes how likely it is to grow and spread. After that, you can discuss your treatment options.
Surgery is the most common treatment for breast cancer. Many people have additional treatments, such as chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation, or hormone therapy.
Conclusion
Lastly, it is best you keep a regular date with your doctor, so that breast cancer can be spotted quicker, but if you already have breast cancer, you should stick to the treatment plan given by the doctor.