Breast Cancer - A very Scary Disease!

By Richard H Ealom

INTRODUCTION: Breast Cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the breast. It is the leading cause of death among women between 40 and 55 years of age, the second overall cause of death among women (exceeded only by lung cancer) and is on the rise worldwide. Breast cancer is more easily treated and often curable if it is found early.

LUMPS: The majority of breast tumors (abnormal masses of tissue) are benign (not cancerous). By using the fingertips, a lump may be detected within the breast. If a lump in the breast is detected, the doctor may need to cut out a small piece of the lump (known as biopsy).

There are four kinds of biopsies: Excisional Biopsy (The removal of all of a lump or suspect tissue); Incisional Biopsy (The removal of part of a lump or suspicious tissue); Needle Biopsy (The removal of part of a lump, suspicious tissue, or fluid, using a thin needle); Core Biopsy (The removal of part of a lump or suspect tissue using a wide needle).

A group of rapidly dividing cells may form a lump of extra tissue. For example, fibrocystic change is a non-cancerous condition in which a female develops cysts (accumulated packets of fluid), fibrosis (formation of scar-like connective tissue), lumpiness, areas of thickening, tenderness, or breast pain.

RISKS: Women who have an altered gene related to breast cancer and who have had cancer in one breast are at great risk of developing cancer in the other breast. These women also have a high risk of developing ovarian cancer, and may have an increased risk of developing various other cancers.

Age and health history can have an affect on the risk of developing breast cancer. A woman's risk may be higher or lower, depending upon several factors, including family history, genetics, age of menstruation, and other factors yet not identified. Breast feeding for several months also seems to reduce the cancer risk.

TREATMENT: Treatment for breast cancer usually depends on the type of cancer and whether it has spread outside of the breast to the rest of the body. Treatment includes surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and endocrine/anti-hormone therapy. Treatment for male breast cancer is usually a mastectomy, which is surgery to remove the breast.

CONCLUSION: Previously a disease that afflicted mostly white, affluent women in the industrial hubs of North America and Western Europe, breast cancer can now be found everywhere. But in China, as in most other growing economies, it is a relatively new concern, something that both patients and doctors are only beginning to learn how to treat.

The latest age-specific data in Denmark show that the incidence of breast cancer is maximal for women born between 1945 and 1950, and is on the decline for women born more recently. More than 90 out of 100 women whose cancer is found early will be cured. The leading cause of breast cancer is said to be the use of anti-perspirant. The good news is that it is a disease that can be treated and cured.

About the Author:

About the author: Richard H. Ealom is an expert ezinearticles.com writer with more than 50 articles on diseases,causes,cures. To learn more about Breast Cancer visit "Breast Cancer Breakthrough USA!" You have the right to reprint this article provided this box is kept unchanged.

New Breast Cancer Treatments

By Roselyn Capen

When it comes to treating breast cancer there are more than a few options. There are many options that people can choose to help fight their cancer. For every stage of breast cancer, you can consider three types of treatment.

Breast cancer is usually diagnosed through some form of surgery, like a biopsy, which is concerned specifically with specific parts or the body, and in this case, with the breast or lymph nodes. Once it is diagnosed for certain, two very effective surgeries can be used for treating it. Mastectomy, which includes removal of the entire breast, and partial mastectomy, which entails with removal of a part of the breast. These surgeries are most effective when the malignant tumor is small and the cancer has not spread out. Also, for women who had large tumors, which have shrunken due to chemotherapy, partial mastectomy is a great option.

Systemic therapy is good in order to get rid of any cells that may have spread to other parts of the body. If the cancer has spread and has formed tumors elsewhere this treatment can help shrink the cancer and hopefully lead to a remission, which would be ideal for everyone.

This treatment is mainly decided by the characteristics of the cancer. The more aggressive the caner is then it will have a higher risk of spreading outside that area and into other areas where treatment can be harder to do.

Treatments are administered in various manners. For breast cancer, oral treatment, along with injectibles, are prevalent in treatments today. A very effective therapy, Chemotherapy, kills cancerous cells, and can be taken either orally or injected. Another therapy, called the Immune therapy, makes the body produce antibodies by introducing a foreign article, and the body fights back, reacting to the foreign invasion. This is much like the flu shots work. However, this is widely unknown and not used much on grounds of being new.

Unconventional methods such as yoga asana, acupuncture, massages, intake of herbal remedies, chiropractic, are also in practice. A lot of people suffering from breast cancer claim to get "healed" for the simple reason that these practices help make the body healthier and enable it to fight the ailment itself. They feel rejuvenated during the course of the action, and forget their ailment. There is nothing to lose trying these Complementary therapies, and just a healthier body to gain.

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Get all important information about the right treatment for breast cancer. You can fight your tumor. Get all the details about your individual breast cancer treatment option.

Breast Cancer Treatments That Work

By Gerardo Hunnell

The treatments for breast cancer vary according the stage, type, location and size of the cancer. The non-surgical treatments are hormone therapy, chemotherapy and radiation. Surgeries for breast include the removal of a tumor, mastectomy (breast removal) and the removal of lymphatic tissue.

The Beginning Stage

If a woman has very small blockages in her mammary glands called "lobular carcinoma", usually nothing is done except to watch her very carefully. Some women who have lobular carcinoma choose to have both of their breasts removed because the chances of getting breast cancer in the other breast are very slight. In the case of ductal carcinoma, women can often have only a lumpectomy - the lump is removed without having to remove the breast. She will then be treated with radiation therapy. Again, some women also choose to have both of their breasts removed as a preventative.

The Middle to Late Stages

In these stages, women are often treated with chemo, radiation and hormones before surgery is attempted. If the cancer is larger and is spreading quickly, a mastectomy is done followed with the removal of the lymph nodes in the axillary area. Radiation, chemotherapy and hormone therapies are used after this major surgery.

Chemotherapy is often given before a woman has surgery to see if the tumor will shrink. If it does, there is a better chance that she will not have to have her entire breast taken off.

The non-invasive treatments are almost always used regardless of whether or not surgery is done. Treating the cancer intensively makes survival more likely.

Once the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, there is no choice but to remove them from the axillary area. A mastectomy is also performed in this case.

The Last Stage of Cancer

In the fourth stage, it is too late to operate with any success. A woman may be treated with radiation, hormones and chemotherapy to allow her to live a while longer. Many women don't have these therapies and instead choose to be given supportive care. Supportive care offers pain management and stress therapies for a woman who is dying. Nothing is done to prolong her life but instead, the focus is on the quality of her life in the short time she has to live.

If the cancer is treated and reoccurs or if some of the cancer is missed, a mastectomy and lymph tissue removal is followed by therapies if the cancer has not reached the last stage. Otherwise, supportive care is recommended.

Though it seems unlikely, men have been known to get breast cancer. They are treated in the same manner as women are when this happens.

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Cancer Treatment - Surgery as Breast Cancer Treatment Option.

By Meng Y

No person wants to undergo surgery. Luckily, breast cancer surgery that is performed today is targeted than it has been in the past. Individuals today do not experience as much scarring and are able to quickly recover while also receiving treatment that is effective enough to lower the odds of recurrence.

Diagnostic tools are more precise and the disease is better understood. Traditional options still largely apply, but employing them is no longer automatic. Each case is unique and individually analyzed. The breast cancer patient has choices and is an active participant in the decision making process.

One of the most common choices made is known as a lumpectomy. Just what it sounds like, a lumpectomy is the surgical removal of the lump that constitutes the cancer tumor. Even here there are a wide range of choices. The amount of tissue removed around the lump varies. Surgeons make a judgment call about how much is needed to reduce the chances of the cancer returning.

Depending upon where the tumor is located, its size, and how long it has been growing a surgeon might have to remove one or more lymph nodes during the lumpectomy process. Lymph nodes are bean-sized glands that are typically oval in shape. They operate as part of a system that operates throughout the body. Lymph nodes are necessary in the immune system. Lymph nodes help to fight off bacteria and the invasion of foreign bodies.

Once cancer has reached a lymph node it can easily and quickly be spread throughout the body by way of the blood vessels that connect lymph nodes together. When and if this occurs cancers become extremely difficult to treat. Sometimes chemotherapy or even radiation treatments are necessary at this stage.

To minimize the likelihood of that happening, surgeons will sometimes remove one or more lymph nodes near a cancerous tumor. Then, lab tests are performed to check for any spread of the cancer. Here again, each case is unique and the options and likely actions should be discussed with all the physicians involved.

Like other cancers, breast cancer develops in different stages. The stages are determined by the location, size and type of tumors that the cancer is comprised of. When breast cancer reaches a stage where it is necessary surgery may extend beyond a lumpectomy. The patient and the doctor might decide that a segmental or partial mastectomy is necessary.

In that procedure more breast tissue is removed than in a simple lumpectomy. In many cases radiation therapy may be part of the follow up treatment regimen, often extending for six or eight weeks. The goal is to ensure that all the cancer was removed, or that any remaining malignant tissue the surgeon was unable to get is destroyed by the radiation.

In more extreme cases, which are fortunately recommended much less often today, a mastectomy may be performed. Most or all of the breast is removed. When no lymph nodes are taken, the procedure is called a simple or total mastectomy. When all the breast tissue is removed, along with the nipple and lymph nodes in the armpit, the surgery is termed a modified radical mastectomy.

When the surgeon has to go further and remove the accompanying chest wall muscles the procedure is called a radical mastectomy. Fortunately, this extreme action is rarely called for today. Even when required, reconstructive surgery or prosthetics can often restore appearance almost entirely.

Hospital stay varies with the type of treatment, ranging from outpatient, same-day release for a simple lumpectomy to a week for more intensive procedures. Explore all your options and research the effects carefully. Ask questions and don't be put off by too-busy physicians. Finding one willing to answer questions at length in layman's terms is the first step toward proper treatment.

About the Author:

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