What is breast Cancer?

Breast cancer is the most common fatal type of cancer in women. After lung cancer, it is the second most common cause of death in women. Growing awareness on what is breast cancer has lessened the fatal rates within the past decades. Women actively undergo mammography for screening resulting to earlier detection of cancer. Although breast cancer is more directed towards women, one percent of cases occur in men.

There are four different classification schemes or groups of breast cancer depending on different criteria. For pathology, each tumor is classified by histological appearance (microscopic anatomy). For grade of tumor, the histological grade of a tumor’s appearance determined under a microscope is compared to normal tissues and may be well differentiated (resembles normal tissue), poorly differentiated (differs from normal tissue), or moderately differentiated (varies in between the first two). For protein and gene expression status, expression or detectable effect of proteins (estrogen receptor or ER, progesterone receptor or PR and HER2/neu) is examined by immunohistochemistry. For stage of a tumor, the aim is to identify the stage of breast cancer whether it has metastases to lymph nodes and parts other than the breast. However, there are certain breast cancers that may not be classified through these four. Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), for instance, is a form of ductal carcinoma (cancer in the ducts) and is distinguished by its inflamed appearance. It is believed that pathologic classifications may be altered in the future.

The exact causes of breast cancer are unknown. The reason why one develops breast cancer and the other does cannot be explained. Although, studies show that bumping, bruising, or touching the breast does not cause cancer. It is not contagious. Primary risk factors are gender, age, childbearing, a high-fat diet or obesity, alcohol intake and use of tobacco, radiation, endocrine disruptors and shift-work, personal history of breast cancer, family history associated to cancer, breast changes, gene changes, race, breast density, Taking diethylstilbestrol (DES), and lack of physical activity. Those with such risk factors must be aware of what is breast cancer.

Women are more at risk than men. The older a woman is, the greater the chance of getting breast cancer. Women who never had a child or had one at an older age are at risk. Women who practice high fat diet or are obese, especially after menopause, are at risk. Studies show that the greater alcohol intake and tobacco usage, the greater the risk of getting breast cancer. Women who underwent radiation therapy for another form of disease or women exposed to radiation therapy earlier in life are at risk. Endocrine disruptors that are exogenous substances acting like hormones in the endocrine system and disrupts physiologic functions of endogenous hormones may lead to breast cancer. Developing breast cancer in one breast increases the risk of having it on the other. A woman with a family history of cancers increases her risk. Presence of abnormal looking cells in the breast under the microscope increases risk. Certain changes in genes increase the risk. White women are more often diagnosed with breast cancer as compared to Latina, Asian, or African American. Older women who show more dense tissues in mammograms are at increased risk. DES was given to pregnant women from about 1940 to 1971 and those who took them have slightly increased the risk of breast cancer. Physical inactivity through life increases the risk of breast cancer.

Screening for breast cancer before symptoms show has lead to earlier detection of breast cancers. Treatments are more successful at the early stage of cancer. Screening mammogram, clinical breast exam, and breast self exam are suggested screening techniques for breast cancer.

While screening techniques are useful in determining possibility of having breast cancer, further exams must be performed to find out if a lump detected is cancerous or benign in nature. Breast cancer is commonly diagnosed with a “triple test”: clinical breast examination by a trained medical practitioner, mammography, and fine needle aspiration cytology. Clinical breast exam and mammography, which are also screening techniques, may signify approximate possibility if a lump is cancer. Fine needle aspiration (FNAC) involves extraction of a portion of fluid from the lump and may sometimes require local anesthesia. Clear fluid may indicate lesser likelihood of cancer opposing bloody fluid which must be examined under the microscope to inspect presence of cancer cells. Other options include biopsy (removing a section of the breast) or excisional biopsy (removing the entire lump).

What is breast cancer’s treatment? The extent of the disease is identified before a plan for treatment is decided. Staging is based on tumor size and metastases. Further x-rays and laboratory tests are involved to see whether the cancer has spread, and if it has, to what parts of the body. Breast cancer metastases are usually detected in the lymph nodes under the arm. Treatment options include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and biological therapy. A combination of treatments may be applied. Before treatment is performed, a second opinion may take place.

Treatment choices may change normal activities and physical appearance. The doctor and patient must work together to plan a treatment reflective of the patient’s needs and values. Cancer treatment is either local therapy or systematic therapy. Surgery and radiation therapy are local treatments that aim to destroy cancer in the breast and control the disease when it spreads to other parts of the body. Chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and biological therapy are systematic treatments that aim to destroy or control cancer throughout the body through the bloodstream. Systematic therapy is sometimes performed to shrink the tumor before surgery or radiation. It may also be performed after surgery or radiation to prevent cancer from recurring.

What is breast cancer patient faced with? Due to the damage cancer treatments cause, side effects are expected in most cases. Such side effects depend on the extent of the treatment and may not be the same across cancer patients and may vary from one treatment to another. That is why possible side effects are explained before treatment starts. Ways to manage them may also be discussed.

The most common treatment for breast cancer is surgery. Radiation therapy is performed to destroy cancer cells that may remain after surgery. Chemotherapy is given to patients with advanced stages of the disease. Adjuvant hormonal therapy is given when tumor is more observed through estrogen and progesterone receptors. For HER2-positive tumors, monoclonal antibodies are sometimes used. Radiotherapy destroys microscopic tumors that may have escaped surgery and is given after surgery to the area of the tumor.

At any stage, supportive care is available for controlling pain and other symptoms. They relieve treatment side effects and ease emotional concerns.