Breast Cancer: Facts
Breast Cancer: Facts
Fig: Breast Cancer
Classification:
1.Carcinomas make up 80–90% of all cases. They start in the
lining of organs, like the breast, lungs, or prostate.
2.Sarcomas start in connective tissues—think bone, muscle,
fat, cartilage, or blood vessels.
3. Leukemias are cancers of the blood-forming tissues, like
bone marrow. They don’t usually make solid tumors.
4. Lymphomas and Myelomas begin in the cells of the immune
system. Lymphomas attack the lymphatic system; myelomas start in plasma cells
in the bone marrow.
5.Central Nervous System Cancers grow in the brain or spinal
cord.
1. You might notice a lump or thickening in your breast that
feels different from the rest of the tissue.
2. Sometimes the size, shape, or look of your breast changes.
3. The skin over your breast could start dimpling.
4. A nipple might suddenly turn inward.
5. The skin around your nipple (the areola) could peel,
scale, crust, or flake.
6. You might see redness or a texture like the skin of an
orange.
Risk Factors:
Some things make breast cancer more likely: being overweight,
female using hormone replacement therapy, drinking alcohol, certain genetic
mutations, race or ethnicity, smoking, eating a lot of processed food, not
getting enough vitamins, pregnancy and breastfeeding history, and family
history of breast or ovarian cancer.
">Diagnosis:
1. A breast exam: The doctor feels your breasts and armpits
for lumps or anything unusual.
2. Mammogram: This is an X-ray picture of your breast, used
for screening.
3. Breast ultrasound: With sound waves, doctors can see if a
lump is solid or filled with fluid.
4. Biopsy: Only a biopsy can confirm breast cancer. The
doctor uses a special needle to take a bit of tissue for testing.
5. Breast MRI: You get
a dye injection, then the MRI machine uses magnets and radio waves to take
detailed pictures—no radiation needed.
1. Lumpectomy: The surgeon removes the cancer and a small rim
of normal tissue. Sometimes, people get chemo before the surgery to shrink the
tumor.
2. Mastectomy: This surgery removes all breast
tissue—lobules, ducts, fat, skin, and usually the nipple and areola.
3. Sentinel node biopsy: The surgeon checks the first lymph
nodes that drain from the tumor. If these nodes are clear, there’s little
chance the cancer has spread further, so more nodes don’t have to come out.
4. Axillary lymph node dissection: If cancer shows up in the
sentinel nodes, the surgeon might remove more lymph nodes from the armpit.
1.
Radiation
therapy uses strong beams like X-rays or protons to kill cancer cells
.
Fig: Radiation therapy of cancer
patient
2. Chemotherapy uses drugs to target fast-growing cells like
cancer.
3. Hormone therapy blocks hormones that some cancers need to
grow. This can mean blocking estrogen from attaching to cancer cells or
stopping the body from making estrogen after menopause.
4. Immunotherapy helps your own immune system find and
destroy cancer cells. It can boost the immune response, help it spot threats,
or block cancer’s tricks to hide from the immune system.
Breast cancer isn’t just a personal struggle—it’s a global
issue, and it hits women especially hard. The sad truth is, treatment and
diagnosis cost a lot, which means many people, especially those with lower
incomes, just can’t afford it. That makes everything harder.
Honestly, it’s simple.
Prevention beats treatment every time.
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