Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women, it accounts for one of every three diagnoses in the United States. Breast cancers are malignancies, life threatening tumors that develops in one or both breasts.
A female breast consists of fatty and fibrous connective tissues. The interior of the breast is divided into about twenty different sections called lobes. Each of the lobes is further divided in to lobules, which are structures that contain small milk-producing glands. These glands place the milk into tiny ducts. These ducts take the milk through out the breast and store in a chamber located below the nipple.
Breast cancer can either be invasive (spreading) or noninvasive (non-spreading). An invasive cancer penetrates the wall of a duct. This type of cancer is the most common, constituting about seventy percent of all cases. Infiltrating lobular cancer that spreads through a wall of a lobule accounts for about eight percent of all breast cancer. This type is likely to appear in both of the breast, often in seven separate locations.
The cause of breast cancer is unknown but researchers are suggesting that estrogen, a hormone produced by the ovaries, may be involved. Studied suggest that the longer a women is exposed to the hormone (i.e. If she starts to menstruate before the age of twelve or if she went through menopause after the age of fifty-five and/or had children after the age of thirty) are at a greater risk.
Recently two breast cancer susceptibility genes have been identified. The first one is BRCA1 (a flaw in this gene is common to those who have breast cancer) and the second is BRCA2 (a defect in this gene is associated with breast cancer alone). People who have a mutated BRCA1 gene have an eighty-six percent risk of developing breast cancer by the age of seventy.
Women are one hundred times more likely to get breast cancer than men. More than eighty percent of breast cancer occur in women over the age of fifty. At the age of forty her odds are one in two hundred and seventeen (217), and in women younger than thirty they account for only one and a half percent of all breast cancer cases. About five percent of all breast cancers are inherited. Those with a family history of breast cancer in a first-degree relative (i.e. mother, sister, and daughter) are two to three times the risk of the general population.
Women who take hormo...
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...f the nipple was removed it can be rebuilt from other body tissue and color is applied using tattoo techniques.
Recurrence is always a serious event. Recurrence usually happens in two or three cases out of ten. There are three ways in which cancer can recur in your breast. The most common recurrence is in the conserved breast in the region of the original cancer. If this type of cancer hasn’t spread then it can be treated with a mastectomy. The other kind of
recurrence involves the lymph nodes. If it is not considered to be a metastasis (spread to other areas) it can be treated with further surgery or radiation. A recurrence in the scar or chest wall after a mastectomy is more serious. Because all your breast tissue has been removed, it is impossible for cancer to be residual, and therefore it must have traveled from the lymphatic system or blood stream.
In conclusion it is very important that women do daily/monthly breast examinations and if by your age (40 or older) or if the woman has specific risk factors then a mammogram should be done on a yearly or biannual basis. With all the advancement of medicine today, hopefully a cure for breast cancer will be in the near future.
Women who inherit a mutation in one copy of BRCA1 or BRCA2 are at high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers6. This could be due to the disruption in the pathway of BRCA proteins in the cell nucleus. If BRCA1 is defective, it loses its ability to fix damaged DNA and causes tumor. It is because once the defective BRCA1 raises, it allows the cells to develop and divide uncontrollably. Since defective in BRCA1 causes cancers, it is important to understanding the function of the protein by analyzing its sequence and structure.
...ves the entire breast and the nipple while leaving the pectoral muscles and axillary lymph nodes intact. This surgery has reduced the occurrence of breast cancer by 90%.
The graft is placed at the site of the missing breast tissue. Blood vessels are reattached and the surgeon shapes the graft to look like a natural breast.
Over the past decade breast cancer has become one of the most predominant diseases in the United States. Breast cancer starts out as a malignant tumor in the tissues of the breast which is formed from the uncontrolled growth of abnormal breast cells. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, but it can also appear in men. (Stephan, 2010)
A mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene is associated with an increased risk of ovarian cancer
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."
There are numerous risk factors for breast cancer. Genetics or family history of breast cancer in a one first-degree relative with breast cancer doubles a woman’s risk. Having two first degree relatives rises a woman’s risk by three times. A person’s personal history who have had one breast with cancer is three to four times as likely of developing a new cancer. White women are slightly more likely to develop breast cancer than are African-American women, but African-American women are more likely to die from this cancer. However in women under 45 years of age, breast cancer is more common in African-American women.
Your breasts will be throughly examined for any lumps or suspicious areas. Any changes around the nipple or the skin of your chest will be noted and have more tests done if needed. Your doctor will also do a complete physical exam to judge your general health and whether there is any evidence that the cancer may have spread. If your physical exam suggested breast cancer then you will end up doing some additional tests to find out what kind of cancer it may be. There aren't many ways to free yourself from Breast cancer unfortunately. The two way you can treat Breast cancer is surgery and radiation therapy. Breast cancer can also be treated with medication, which can be inserted orally or through the blood, Several different types of treatment that may be used are chemotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy and bone-directed therapy. Many women will receive more than one treatment for the cancer. Most women with Breast cancer will have some type surgery to get the tumor removed, depending on how bad their cancer is at the time. The people who help with the breast cancer removal are a Breast surgeon, which is a doctor who uses surgery to treat cancer, a radiation oncologist, which is also a doctor who uses radiation to treat cancer, and a medical oncologist, a doctor who uses chemotherapy and other medicines to treat the cancer. Here are some question you should ask your doctor, “Will you be able to have children after my treatment?” “Will you need a blood transfusion?” “Then there is also a very common one its called Lung Cancer, but there are two types of lung cancer, One of them is small cell lung cancer (SCLC), which is sometimes called oat cell cancer about 10% to 15 % of lung
What is breast cancer? According to the National Cancer Institute at the National Institute of Health breast cancer is a, “cancer that forms in tissues of the breast" (cancer.gov). More specifically breast cancer is a malignant tumor that grows inside the breast tissue. What happens is one cell in the tissue does not get the stop signal and keeps dividing into this big mass. This big mass continues to grow and grow and could eventually taking over space that is meant for other tissue or getting into the blood stream taking the dividing cells elsewhere. Breast cancer normally starts in one of two places.
In the United States, starting from the first breast cancer case in 1930s to today, a woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer increases to one eighth (Gray et al.). Continuously increasing breast cancer rate has caused a lot of concerns among not only ordinary people but also scientists. For decades, scientists have been working on the causes of breast cancer in order to find the corresponding methods of treatment. However, only about 25% of the breast cancer cases got explained (Brody et al.); till today, heredity, lifetime exposure to environmental estrogen (the female sex hormone), and the dietary fat are the only major known causes (“Cover Story: Breast Cancer and Environment”). For the 75% unexplained breast cancers cases, scientists, through various of researches, have come up with several hypothetical breast cancer causes, in which synthetic chemicals and environmental radiations are the major ones.
Breast Cancer, as well as other forms of cancer, scientists do know how it occurs, but they do not know an exact cause. There are some genes in our body called oncogenes, genes that have potential to cause cancer, that increases the speed of cell division while other genes such as tumor suppressors, cause the cells to die at the correct time. Mutations that occur in the DNA, which “turn on” the oncogenes or “turn off” tumor suppressor genes, will cause some of the cells to be cancerous in the breast("American Cancer Society"). Also, Breast Cancer can be increased by inherited gene mutations and acquired gene mutations. The risk of Breast Cancer can be increased dramatically, through the inheritance from parent to offspring, if a mutation occurs. For example, if a suppressor gene, such as BRCA, forms a mutation, then it is likely to be passed to future generations. This gene no longer suppresses abnormal growth, therefore there is a higher chance of cancer being developed. Even though Breast Cancer can be inherited it is more likely to be acquired through one breast cell. The acquired mutations could be a result of of radiation or cancer-causing chemicals. ...
...learned a lot about breast cancer, I think prevention and early detection are critical. First, we need to learn more, information can be found in National Cancer Institute website and many medical journals. It’s important that we do self-examination periodically. By identifying risk factors, we will be able to take preventative steps accordingly. If breast cancer does occur, we need to stay calm and take necessary steps. If the tissues need to be removed, they should be. Many women show a lack of confidence after the major surgery because they do not have real breasts. This situation needs to be changed. Angelina Jolie, the celebrity, was brave enough to make the choice of removing breast tissues. She believes that the results of breast reconstruction can be beautiful, so should the rest of us. Also, family support during the treatment will make a huge difference.
Breast cancer I often caused by inheritance. A mutated gene for breast cancer is passed down to other generations. This makes a person for likely to acquire breast cancer. Some breast cancer is caused by acquired mutations to the breast tissue from radiation, or cancer-causing chemicals. The most common treatment for breast cancer is surgery. This is the removal of partial, or all of the affected breast. This can seem like drastic measures for most women because they are having a part of them that makes them women taken away. Therefore, other forms of treatment include, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy, and bone-directed therapy.
Breast Cancer As defined by Majure, breast cancer is an “uncontrolled growth of abnormal breast cells” (Majure: 110). It is also one of the cancers that women fear the most. Not only do women get diagnosed with breast cancer, men do too. However, it isn't as bad, or as common, in men as it is in women, so doctors don’t recommend screening for men.