Breast Cancer Awareness
As October is Breast cancer awareness month, it provides an opportunity to talk about what breast cancer actually is. In this article, we will look at what the risk factors are, how it is diagnosed and what the treatment options are. Like many other health conditions, self-examination - paying attention to our body for changes is the most engaging method of self-analysis and assessing changes. During self-examination, if you do notice something unusual, visit your family doctor for a more thorough examination.
What is Breast Cancer?
According to the NIH, breast cancer is a disease in which certain cells in the breast become abnormal and multiply uncontrollably to form a tumor. Breast cancer appears to manifest itself as a lump in the breast area, also known as cysts, which create scarring in the connective tissue that supports the breast.
Lumps in the breast can either be benign or cancerous. Benign breast conditions are unusual growths or other changes in the breast tissue that are not cancer. However, when a breast lump or abnormality is cancerous, it may be categorized as non-invasive, invasive or metastatic. Non-invasive, invasive and metastatic are all breast cancer, the difference lies in how far it has spread.
Non-Invasive Cancer: Cancer in the very early stages, that has not spread beyond the duct.
Invasive Cancer: Has spread from the duct into surrounding breast tissue and may have spread to the lymph nodes.
Metastatic Cancer: When breast cancer has spread from the breast to other parts of the body.
Depending if and where the cancer has spread on each individual patient, doctors may recommend different types of breast cancer treatment.
What are the risk factors?
Breast cancer is most commonly found in women, but both women and men can get this disease. Being a woman does increase your chances of getting breast cancer, along with the following common risk factors:
Family History: Having a close blood relative can double your chances of getting breast cancer (i.e mother, daughter, grandmother).
Age: Women over 50 have a higher chance of getting breast cancer.
Race: Caucasian women are more likely to have breast cancer, followed by Black women, then Asian and Hispanic women.
Alcohol: Individuals that have 2-5 alcoholic drinks a day are 1.5x more likely to develop breast cancer versus those who drink less. The recommended number of drinks is 3 drinks a week maximum.
Weight: Those who are overweight, especially women after menopause, have shown to be more prone to breast cancer. According to research, fat tissue can help create more estrogen, and exposure to high amounts of estrogen, especially after menopause, is linked to breast cancer.
Physical Activity: There is a clear link between exercise and breast cancer. Those who exercise, even mild exercise according to national guidelines, are less likely to develop breast cancer.
It is important to remember that these risk factors do not 100 percent cause or prevent breast cancer. They are useful to create awareness about what genetic or lifestyle choices could potentially lead to breast cancer.
How is it diagnosed?
Breast cancer is usually diagnosed by breast specialists or surgeons. They use up to four diagnostic tools to check suspected breast cancer. Those tools are ultrasounds, mammograms, MRIs and biopsies.
Ultrasounds: This method of scanning uses soundwaves to create images of areas inside the breast.
Mammograms: This diagnostic technique is essentially a detailed low-energy X-ray of the breast. The goal of mammograms is early detection of breast cancer.
MRIs: MRIs are used to create a detailed picture of the inside of the breast by using magnets to acquire a picture.
Biopsies: Biopsies are procedures that remove a piece of tissue or fluid from the breast to be looked at under a microscope and do more testing.
These diagnostic tools help doctors create an accurate and appropriate idea of the type of cancer the patient is dealing with (invasive, non-invasive, metastatic) and if it is benign or not, to appropriately find a treatment method for it.
In addition to these diagnostic tools, some doctors suggest for individuals to perform self tests at home to check for lumps. If you notice a lump on your breast, you should visit your doctor since self checks are most effective with a combination with one of the other diagnostic methods.
If you want to find out more about self diagnosis visit:
https://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/testing/types/self_exam
How is it treated?
Generally, there are five different types of treatments for breast cancer. They are surgery, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy, chemotherapy and targeted therapy.
Surgery: If surgery is the suggested treatment, surgeons may either do a breast- conserving surgery, a mastectomy or a lymph node surgery. The type of surgery will depend on the size and location of the tumor. The size of the breast, if it has spread to the lymph nodes, and/ or if there has been treatment for breast cancer previously.
Radiation Therapy: This treatment is almost always used after breast conservative therapy and in some cases after a mastectomy. Radiation therapy is when doctors use a machine to direct radiation to the tumour and the tissue around it.
Hormonal Therapy: This method of treatment is mostly used for women who have developed breast cancer after menopause. It is mostly used when the Cancer is receptor-positive (when the cancer has receptors for estrogen or progesterone).
Chemotherapy: This is one of the most common treatments for breast cancer, it involves the prescription of one or a combination of cancer treating drugs. The goal of chemotherapy is to prevent the cancer from coming back after surgery. It is also the main treatment for advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
Targeted Therapy: Targeted therapy uses drugs to target specific molecules on or in cancer cells since the role of these molecules is to tell cells to grow or divide. By targeting these molecules, the drugs stop the growth and spread of cancer cells.
Breast Cancer is a hard disease to navigate, however, with the right knowledge, a healthy lifestyle and frequent visits to your family doctor, it can be caught and treated early for best results. If you or anyone you know, has or has been diagnosed with breast cancer or you want to learn more check out the links below for more information:
*Disclaimer: The information in this article is not meant to be used as a medical diagnosis tool. This article is for educational purposes only. If you have any questions or want a professional diagnosis, visit your doctor or a medical professional near you. *