Mammography screening & early detection Mammography is a very accurate screening tool for women at both average and increased risk; however, like any medical test, it is not perfect. Although the majority of women with an abnormal mammogram do not have cancer, all suspicious lesions that cannot be resolved with additional imaging should be biopsied for a definitive diagnosis. Breast cancer screening for women at average risk includes clinical breast exam and mammography. This screening tool can often detect breast cancer at an early stage, when treatment is more effective and a cure is more likely (cancersupporttexas.org, 2015). Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control shows that lack of mammography screening is the main cause of …show more content…
Medical statistics for Bronx County indicates that black women above 40 years of age experience a lower rate of cancer infection as compared to White Non-Hispanic women of the same age group. However, mortality rates show an inverse relationship between the same conclusions due to inequality in socioeconomic conditions. Research indicates that African American women tend to get diagnosed at a later age in comparison to their counterparts. The stages of breast cancer are indicated as a number from a scale of 0 through 4. Treatment types are also done according to each stage. The plans for the treatments are usually by personal choices and medical options. The first is DCIS (stage 0) meaning ductal carcinoma in situ, which is noninvasive breast cancer. Surgery is the first step in treating DCIS. It removes the abnormal tissue in the breast. Depending on how far the DCIS has spread within the milk ducts, surgery can be either mastectomy or lumpectomy, followed by radiation therapy for a lower risk of recurrence and finally hormone therapy with tamoxifen, which is usually unlikely (Ww5.komen.org, …show more content…
It has three subcategories known as IIIA, IIIB, and IIIC. Stage IIIA is described as invasive. In this stage it is considered advanced, which is harder to fight. In this subcategory the cancer is present in up to nine lymph nodes. It forms a chain that runs from the underarm to the collarbone. In another instance the cancer has spread or enlarged the lymph nodes, it would be deep in the breast. Stage IIIB is invasive breast cancer that is a tumor that has spread to the chest wall or the skin around the breast. Stage IIIC described as invasive that has cancer spread to more than ten lymph nodes (Breast Cancer, n.d.). Treatment for locally advanced breast cancer usually begins with neoadjuvant (before surgery) therapy. Neoadjuvant therapy helps shrink the tumor(s) in the breast and lymph nodes so that surgery can better remove all of the cancer (Ww5.komen.org,
I currently work at Insight Medical Imaging as a mammographer. It goes without saying that screening and early detection has
Jewelll, N., & Russell, K. (1992). Current health status of african americans. Journal of community health nursing, 9(3), 161-169.
Colorectal cancer, or CRC, affects African American men and women more than Caucasians, at a rate 20% higher. This is concerning when faced with the mortality rates among African Americans, 28% higher for women and 14% higher for men than for Whites. African Americans are also more likely to be in later stages of the disease when diagnosed. There is a need to study and evaluate why these factors exist, as proper screening and early diagnosis can severely impact survival rates for CRC. One study attempts to find the solution through testing, however, this study slightly discredits itself along the way.
"Treatment of Invasive Breast Cancer, by Stage." Cancer.com. American Cancer Society. Web. 05 Jan. 2014. .
...in to treat African American women as a whole instead of patient X, then there will be a change in the rate of deaths among African American women with breast cancer. However, these women must also decide to trust those providers and receive pre-screenings in order to be proactive about their own health, and the government needs to actively provide affordable ways for women to receive these screenings. There is plenty of evidence available that shows the problems with African American women dying from breast cancer, so people must be educated and aware of the problem in order to bring about a change in society. As Louis Giglio once said, “awareness brings about action, and action brings about change,” and hopefully, people will use this information to bring about awareness to ripple into change for African American women aged 40-80 especially regarding breast cancer.
Zenka, D. (2012, October 05). African Americans: At Higher Risk for Prostate Cancer. Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF). Retrieved May 25, 2016
Breast cancer can be invasive or noninvasive. If the cancer has spread from the milk duct or lobule to other tissues in the breast and leads to the severe tumor formation , it is Invasive Cancer. Noninvasive refers that the cancerous cells have not yet invaded other breast tissue. Noninvasive breast cancer is also termed as "in situ."
For these reasons, minorities often put off the expense of seeing a doctor until they have advanced disease and are past being easily treated. A lack of education, rural or inner city residence, unemployment, and low literacy rate may also contribute to higher cancer mortality rates for some communities. In several studies researchers investigates whether socioeconomic status is the reason for the disparity in prostate cancer incidence, where African Americans and Non- Hispanic Whites are the top two candidates for prostate cancer. Some results found that the highest level of cancer incidence was positively correlated with low socioeconomic status (Cheng, et al.,
According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer health disparities are defined as the adverse differences between specific populations and the achievement of an optimal state of health. These population groups are categorized by geographic location, income, disability, age, education, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or race. These factors correlate with cancer mortality rates that impact specific population groups in the United States, cancer prevalence is the number of people diagnosed or living with cancer, and cancer incidence which is the number of new cancer cases in a population. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2013, there were an estimated 1,660,290 new cases of cancer and 580,350 of the new cases resulted in mortality. Individuals who have limited access to healthcare, health illiterate, and poverty stricken are more likely to develop cancer. This means a person’s socioeconomic status can determine the likelihood of their probability of developing cancer
Why is this important? Mammograms don’t prevent breast cancer, but they can save lives by finding breast cancer as early as possible (breastcancer.org). It is important to assure the conditions that the person can remain healthy. Screenings for breast cancer helps find cancer early. When it is shown early, it is often treatable. More people will live longer than expected. For instance, mammograms have been shown to reduce the risk of dying from breast cancer by 35% in women over the age of 50. In women between the ages of 40 and 50, the risk reduction appears to be slightly less. (breastcancer.org). Mammograms is an X-ray picture of the breast. It is important to get mammograms once every year. The earlier, the better a person can get rid of the cancerous cells in their body (Levana, 2014).
Stage IIB can also be detected in three ways. If there is a tumor between two and five centimeters present with small groups of breast cancer cells sizes varying between .2 millimeters and 2 millimeters found in the lymph nodes. The second way that IIB can be found is if there is a tumor of those same dimensions found, but this time present with cancer cells that have spread to two to three axillary lymph nodes or to lymph nodes near the breastbone. The last way can be described as a tumor larger than five centimeters but has not spread to the axillary lymph nodes.
Treatment for primary, localized breast cancer commonly includes surgical interventions based on tumor type, size, and stage. Certain procedures such as a local excision or lumpectomy conserve more of a woman’s breast than others, where only the breast lump and surrounding area of tissue are removed. A mastectomy is a more radical procedure that removes the entire breast. After a mastectomy, some women choose to have breast reconstructive surgery to restore their sense of body integrity (LeMone et al., 2011). Recently, surgical techniques have improved, resulting in less radical and invasive surgeries. The increase in breast conserving surgery has been related to screening mammograms. On average, screening for breast cancer detects tumors in smaller and earlier stages, enabling patients to begin treatment before the cancer advances to more invasive stages (Watts, 2013).
Healthcare disparities are when there are inequalities or differences of the conditions of health and the quality of care that is received among specific groups of people such as African Americans, Caucasians, Asians, or Hispanics. Not only does it occur between racial and ethnic groups, health disparities can happen between males and females as well. Minorities have the worst healthcare outcomes, higher death rates, and are more prone to terminal diseases. For African American men and women, some of the most common health disparities are diabetes, cancer, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and HIV infections. Some factors that can contribute to disparities are healthcare access, transportation, specialist referrals, and non-effective communication with patients. There is also much racism that still occurs today, which can be another reason African Americans may be mistreated with their healthcare. “Although both black and white patients tended not to endorse the existence of racism in the medical system, African Americans patients were more likely to perceive racism” (Laveist, Nickerson, Bowie, 2000). Over the years, the health care system has made improvements but some Americans, such as African Americans, are still being treating unequally when wanting the same care they desire as everyone else.
Each stage is characterized by an A, B, or C letter, depending on the degree to which the symptoms present themselves. The differences in each stage are as follows: stage 1 is when the cancer is either found in one ovary or both, stage 2 the tumor is found in one or both ovaries and extends to other pelvic structures, stage 3 the cancer has spread beyond the pelvis to the lining of the abdomen or to the lymph nodes and finally in stage 4 the cancer has spread to other organs in the body including the liver or lungs (Ovarian Cancer National Alliance). Cancer is “staged” by taking a sample of the infected tissue surgically and sending it to a lab for examination. Staging is crucial in order for medical professionals to determine which course of treatment would be the most effective for the given patient. If misdiagnosed, an entire area affected by this disease could potentially be missed and left untreated.
MRI has become the modality of choice when imaging soft tissue densities and recently, MRI breast scans have become an accessory exam to regular screening mammography. Breast MRI’s are becoming a standard for women with especially high risks of developing breast cancer due to MRI’s ability to superbly image soft tissues with high contrast. Breast MRI’s have several advantages over traditional mammography. Breast MRI’s are more likely to catch abnormal cells in the breast as the scans are usually performed with image enhancing contrast agents which highlights areas of interest (Newstead, 2012). MRI also does not utilize ionizing radiation to produce images which is a great advantage for some patients. Another advantage of breast MRI is superior