Wednesday, October 9, 2013

How Does Breast Cancer Form?

Genetic factors increase the risk of breast cancer

    The main risk factors for breast cancer are age, gender, family history of breast cancer and genetic factors.
    The risk of having breast cancer is 5-10 times higher if you are 60 or older, in comparison to women aged 40 and younger.
    Breast cancer also develops in men; however, it develops at a much lower rate (3-10 events per 100,000 men).
    About 6-10% of breast cancer cases are due to inherited genes. The lifetime risk of developing breast cancer is 80% in women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation.

Mutation of cells in breast tissue lead to formation of breast tumor

    Breast cancer originates from mutations of cells in breast tissues. It is not clear what leads to these mutations. The mutations affect several normal functions of breast cells, including those controlling how cells grow and divide. This leads to uncontrolled growth and ultimately tumor formation.
    The tumor then invades neighboring blood vessels and divert nutrients to supply itself. This process is known as angiogenesis.

    Cancer cells in malignant tumor can also hijack the blood stream or the lymphatic system to reach other organs in the body and form new tumors. The new tumors are referred to as metastatic breast cancer. The most common metastatic breast cancers occur in liver, lung and bone.

    The main symptom is breast cancer is a breast lump. It often takes years for breast cancer to develop.

Early detection is the key

    Deaths of breast cancer patients are mostly due to the development of metastatic breast cancers in vital organs like the brain or lung.
    If breast cancer is detected at an early stage, the 5-year survival rate is 80-90%. On the other hand, the 5-year survival rate for patients at later stages with metastatic breast cancer is merely 30-35%.

    The best way to detect breast cancer is mammogram. The American Cancer Society recommends that women aged 40 or older undergo mammogram screening every year.



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  • Information, Awareness & Donations - National Breast Cancer

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    The National Breast Cancer Foundation's mission is to save lives by increasing awareness of breast cancer through education and by providing mammograms for

  • Breast cancer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breast_cancer

    Breast cancer is a type of cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk.

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  • Breast Cancer Home Page - National Cancer Institute

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    Definition of breast cancer: Cancer that forms in tissues of the breast, usually the ducts (tubes that carry milk to the nipple) and lobules (glands that make milk).

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Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Early Breast Cancer Detection

Effective disease fighting depends on discovering the presence of illness before symptoms manifest. Breast cancer, which affects one in eight women, according to Medline Plus, can often be identified through various screening techniques before it blossoms into a real threat. According to statistics from Imaginis.com, a health site for women, those whose breast cancer is detected during its earliest stages have a 100 percent five-year survival rate.

Breast Cancer

    Factors that can increase the likelihood of developing breast cancer include age (older individuals are more likely to develop cancer), sex (women are 100 times more likely to be affected by breast cancer than men), genetics (5 to 10 percent of cases appear to be inherited) and ethnicity (whites are more likely to be affected).

Breast Cancer Symptoms

    In most cases, early-stage breast cancer rarely shows itself. Possible signs include a change in the shape or size of the breast, alteration in nipple coloration, an unexplainable discharge from the nipple, or (the most common symptom) a lump within the breast or armpit. Detection of any of these signs should prompt an immediate visit to a physician.

Detection Tools

    According to the American Cancer Society, the most prevalent tool used to detect breast cancer is a simple self-examination. A self-examination is a manual examination of the breasts using the hands, for the purpose of detecting any significant changes in breast structure. The resource below titled "ACS Breast Self Exam" contains information to help you get started. Regular self-examination can help you become familiar enough with the characteristics of your breasts so that you are more attenuated to the development of abnormalities. Ideally, your health care provider can teach you the correct method to perform breast self-exams.

Escalating Detection Methods

    An escalating policy of proactive breast cancer detection is required as the age of the patient increases. A yearly mammogram should be performed in addition to self and clinical exams beginning at the age of 40. Additionally, where the overall risk of developing breast cancer climbs above 20 percent, both a yearly mammogram and an MRI will be necessary.

New Developments

    According to research published in the October 2009 edition of Science Translational Medicine, a new breast cancer screening tool is in the works. This method is a handheld device called a "lab on a chip" that is capable of analyzing a tissue sample at the genetic level to determine whether you are at an increased risk of developing breast cancer. If placed into widespread use, this could save women the trouble of conducting self-examinations, as they would be put on early notice of potential breast cancer during their regular visits to the doctor.



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Breast Cancer Symptoms & Diagnosis

Breast cancer involves the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells in the tissue, ducts or lobules of the breast. The National Cancer Institute estimates that nearly 200,000 women are newly diagnosed annually with breast cancer. This insidious disease can affect men as well, although this is rare. Moving from the symptom stage to diagnosis involves careful screening to determination the extent of the potential cancer and to evaluate whether the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Let's look at breast cancer symptoms and diagnosis tools for a better understanding of this disease.

Detection

    Most breast cancers are discovered through routine mammograms. Changes to the tissue of the breast can occur without a woman realizing that cancer cells are beginning to be active within the body. Microscopic deposits called calcifications can be found only with mammograms. These tiny calcium deposits sometimes indicate the potential for cancer or become the fertile ground for cancerous cells to flourish. For this reason, the baseline mammogram and further pictures at regular intervals help doctors monitor any changes within the breast. Many women perform breast self-exams each month to check for changes within the breast. This self-exam can often find small lumps or tumors that require evaluation through mammograms and possible biopsy for removal. According to BreastCancer.org, about 20 percent of breast cancers are found through routine self-exams.

Visible Symptoms

    Some women exhibit visible symptoms that indicate cancer is present inside the breast. These symptoms can include dimpling of the skin, rash, bloody discharge from the nipple, inverted nipples and peeling nipple skin, according to the Mayo Clinic. Breast cancer symptoms might involve the discovery of a noticeable lump or a change in the overall firmness of the breast called thickening. A doctor should check any changes in breast size or shape. All of these symptoms could be an indication of breast cancer but also other non-threatening medical conditions.

Diagnostic Tools: Mammogram and MRI

    With any discovery of something different with the breast, the first diagnostic tool at the physician's disposal is the mammogram. This test provides a clear look of the breast tissue in most cases. Mammograms are X-ray pictures of the breast that are evaluated by skilled radiologists who interpret findings to help doctors make decisions about suspicious areas. When doctors find areas of suspicion, they may use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a tool to help evaluate the entire breast from a two- or three-dimensional viewpoint. For example, if a woman has cancer in one breast but a mammogram shows nothing in the other, doctors may request an MRI of the second breast as a precautionary measure.

Diagnostic Tools: Ultrasound

    Ultrasound is sometimes used in conjunction with mammograms to evaluate masses within the breast. Technicians use a wand that transmits sound waves into the tissue. These waves bounce back off the tissue to the ultrasound probe. The technician uses this information to create a computer-generated image of the breast and tissue. Ultrasound is often used to determine the status of a lump since this type of test can determine if a cyst is fluid filled.

Diagnostic Tools: Biopsy

    Doctors perform biopsies on areas of suspicion in the breasts. Using mammograms and ultrasound to help locate these areas, surgeons will perform a procedure to determine whether an area of concern is cancerous. Radiologists assist doctors by inserting a thin wire into the breast to mark areas of concern such as calcifications. Surgeons can then insert a hollow needle into the breast to extract small areas of cells. Larger masses are excised to remove the entire lump including some area around the outside of the area of concern to obtain clean margins. A lab evaluates the tissue from the biopsy and reports the results to your doctor. Your doctor will make his recommendation on your course of treatment based on findings from the biopsy.



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  • Breast cancer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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    Breast cancer is a type of cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk.


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