Breast Cancer, Breast Cancer Diagnosis, Breasr Cancer prevention, Breast Cnacer Symptoms, Mammograms, Lumpectomy, Chemotherapy, Radiation, Hormone therapy What you should know to protect and prevent yourself.

Health/Fitness

Tuesday October 24, 2006 Breast cancer rates continue to increase Self-examination helps detect disease early Renalie D. Reagan diginetXpress Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women and the second leading cause of cancer death, exceeded by lung cancer. Breast cancer is three times more common than all gynecologic malignancies put together, according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation NBCF Web site. The incidence of breast cancer has been increasing steadily from an incidence of one out of 20 in 1960 to one out of seven women today. This year, more than 273,000 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. The NBCF states that nearly 90 percent of them will survive at least five years. Breast cancer is not exclusively a disease of women. For every 100 women with breast cancer, one male will develop the disease, NBCF sources say. The American Cancer Society estimates that 1,600 men will develop the disease this year. The evaluation of men with breast masses is similar to that in women, including mammography. According to healthwise.org Web site, breast cancer occurs when abnormal cells grow out of control in one or both breasts. They can invade nearby tissues and form a mass, called a malignant tumor. The cancer cells can spread (metastasize) to the lymph nodes and other parts of the body. According to the NBCF, breast cancer is considered a heterogeneous disease, meaning that it is a different disease in different women, a different disease in different age groups and has different cell populations within the tumor itself. Generally, breast cancer is a much more aggressive disease in younger women. Autopsy studies show that two percent of the population has undiagnosed breast cancer at the time of death. Older women typically have a much less aggressive disease than younger women. The Breast Cancer Organization (BCO) Web site states that cancer has the potential to break through normal breast tissue barriers and spread to other parts of the body. While cancer is always caused by a genetic abnormality a mistake in the genetic material, only 5 percent to 10 percent of cancers are inherited from parents. Instead, 90 percent of breast cancers are due to genetic abnormalities that happen as a result of the aging process and life in general. Gloria Lahijani a 47-year-old breast cancer survivor who is married with two children, discovered she had a cancer at age 41. Gloria shares her story about her cancer diagnosis and treatment during the interview. Like anyone else when she heard the diagnosis from her doctor, she says, "I was surprised, worried and scared what will happen to me." The day I heard the news almost everything changed my perspective in life." Gloria has no family history of the disease. "The risk of getting the disease depends on each individual lifestyle, family history and environmental factors. Stress also contributes to having the disease," Gloria says. After her first diagnosis, she started reading books, magazines and brochures about breast cancer. She learned that some of the factors are an early onset of menstrual periods and late first pregnancy which might have been the factor that caused her to develop the disease. • Common symptoms of breast cancer include the following • A change in how the breast or nipple feels • A lump or thickening in or near the breast or in the underarm area • Nipple tenderness • A change in how the breast or nipple looks • A change in the size or shape of the breast • A nipple turned inward into the breast • The skin of the breast, areola or nipple may be scaly, red or swollen. It may have ridges or pitting so that it looks like the skin of an orange. • Nipple discharge fluid Gloria said she discovered her symptoms when she noticed something on her breast below her armpit. When she went to get her annual well-woman checkup she told her doctor about what she felt and noticed on her breast. Her doctor recommended that she needed to get a mammogram in order to confirm if she had Different types of treatment for breast cancer are available to assist patients in their individual cases. Lumpectomy was Gloria's first treatment. The treatment is used to remove the lymph nodes under the arms. She also had gone through chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is a systemic therapy; this means it affects the whole body by going through the bloodstream. The purpose of chemotherapy and other systemic treatments, Gloria explained, is to get rid of any cancer cells that may have spread from where the cancer started to another part of the body. According to healthwise.org, most people who have breast cancer have surgery to remove the cancer. The surgeon may also take out some or all of the lymph nodes under her arm to find out if the cancer has spread to this area. After surgery, the patient may receive radiation therapy to destroy cancer cells. She may also require chemo or hormone therapy. These are powerful medicines that travel through the body to kill cancer cells. The patient might have radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy before surgery to help shrink the cancer. In addition to chemotherapy, Gloria's doctor used radiation therapy and other drugs like tamoxefin to treat her breast cancer. She explained that tamoxefin is a drug used to reduce the risk of breast cancer for women who are at high risk of breast cancer but have no personal history of the disease like herself. Gloria suffered hair loss including hair in her nostrils during chemo and radiation therapy. She said, "Cancer itself did not make me suffer, but the side effect of the radiation hormone and chemotherapy gave the pain I experienced." She also said she experienced pain under her nails. She said her nails started to pull away from the skin. Due to all the side effects from the drugs, she said she suffered difficulty buttoning her clothes because her nails hurt. Doctors and researchers states that people cannot control some things that put them at risk for breast cancer, such as gender. But they can change others like the following: • Breast-feeding may decrease the risk of breast cancer. The benefit appears to be greatest in women who have breast-fed for longer than 12 months or who breast-fed several children. • Eat a healthy diet with lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. • Be active. Try to get 30 minutes of exercise at least five days a week. • Stay at a healthy weight. Getting regular exercise and watching what you eat can help. If you drink alcohol, limit the amount. After menopause, even having one drink a day or less may increase the risk for breast cancer. • Do a self breast examination every month. Doctors said there is no sure way to prevent breast cancer, so it is very important to have regular exams and mammograms. Discuss the risk factors with the doctor to find out how often people should have their mammograms. If someone has a strong family history of breast cancer, she should ask her doctor about genetic testing. A blood test can check for changes in the BRCA genes that may increase their chance of getting breast cancer. Gloria added that avoiding stress and eating healthy foods, exercising and taking her drugs supplement helps keep her free of cancer. She said she is grateful for her life now being a five year breast cancer survivor. National Cancer Institute http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/breast/page10 MSN Health Section: http://specials.msn.com/Health/breastcancer.aspx Breast Cancer Organization http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment.html Healthwise Organization: http://www.healthwise.org