What Is Breast Cancer? Essay Example

Suspicion for breast cancer is one of the most horrifying diagnoses any women can ever receive. Breast cancer brings forth numerous dreads, for instance fear of surgical treatment, loss of body image and attractiveness, or even death. There are however some quite effective ways of dealing with these fears. First of all, each woman should be well informed about the essence of the disease. Knowledge is a great tool when you are facing the health problem since it can help you to make the best decisions regarding own care. Secondly, professional consultation is necessary. Issues like this are best talked over with the personal doctor on an individual basis. Being knowledgeable about disease specifics any woman would be able to prevent it from uncontrollable development and avoid harmful consequences it may cause.

So what breast cancer actually is? It is a type of cancer that affects the breast; it typically starts in the inner lining of the milk ducts or lobules. Less frequently, breast cancer can starts in the stromal tissues that consist of the fatty and fibrous connective tissues of the breast. “Over time, cancer cells can invade nearby healthy breast tissue and make their way into the underarm lymph nodes, small organs that filter out foreign substances in the body. If cancer cells get into the lymph nodes, they then have a pathway into other parts of the body.” (Breastcancer.org, 2008) As a process it can be described as an unrestrained growth of breast cells. “Cancer occurs as a result of mutations, or abnormal changes, in the genes responsible for regulating the growth of cells and keeping them healthy.” (Breastcancer.org, 2008) A tumor that is formed as a result of such processes can be of two types: a benign one, and a malignant one. While benign tumors are causing no danger and are thus not considered cancerous (their cells are mostly normal in appearance, they grow gradually, and do not occupy nearby tissues or extend to other parts of the body), malignant tumors are cancerous (if being ignored, malignant cells will eventually spread outside the original tumor to other parts of the body). Figure 1 illustrates the structure of a breast, providing better understanding of how the processes of tumor development are performed.

A Ducts

B Lobules

C Dilated section of duct to hold milk

D Nipple

E Fat

F Pectoralis major muscle

G Chest wall/rib cage

Enlargement

A Normal duct cells

B Basement membrane

C Lumen (center of duct)

Figure 1. Breast Anatomy (Profile).

Note. From Breastcancer.org. (2008). What is breast cancer? Retrieved November 14, 2099, from http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/understand_bc/what_is_bc.jsp

There are diverse types of breast cancer, with varying stages (spread), aggressiveness, and genetic makeup. It is important to know that the effectiveness of treatment mostly depends on the stage at which cancer was discovered. It implies that each woman should take care of own body and pay deliberate attention to the processes it performs. The following Figure 2 illustrates how stage of diagnosis and surviving the illness are related.

Figure 2. Cancer of the Female Breast. 5-Year SEER Conditional Relative Survival Rates and 95% Confidence Intervals

Note. From National Cancer Institute. Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results: Cancer Statistics Review 1975-2006. Retrieved November 14, 2009, from http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2006/browse_csr.php?section=4&page=sect_04_zfig.11.html#tableContent

The reason I have chosen to discuss the subject of breast cancer is that it is getting extremely spread worldwide. These days breast cancer is stated to be the second most common type of cancer after lung cancer. It is also the second most common cause of cancer death in women in the U.S. We live in a world invaded with pollutants, hormones, pesticides, smoking, alcohol use, obesity, stress etc., each of which can be an indirect cause of an abnormal cell growth. “Or maybe your cells just made a mistake one day when they were making new genes to pass on to their baby cells. Perhaps there was a misprint in the genetic instruction manual that said switch growth on instead of growth off. ” ((Breastcancer.org, 2008) The statistics of female breast incidence (1996-2006) are given in the following

Table 1.

Table 1

Cancer of the Female Breast (Invasive). Age-adjusted SEER Incidence [1] Rates by Year, Race and Age

Note. From National Cancer Institute. Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results: Cancer Statistics Review 1975-2006. Retrieved November 14, 2009, from http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2006/browse_csr.php?section=4&page=sect_04_table.07.html

Exact causes of breast cancer are still unclear, and most doctors will never be able to explain why this or that woman develops breast cancer while another does not. There are however some risk factors that increase the possibility of developing a disease. These may be: age (the risk increases as a woman gets older), family history (having other relatives with breast cancer increases the risk), race (white women are affected more frequently), physical activity (lack of activity increases risk), body weight (the chance of getting breast cancer is higher in women who are overweight or obese), drinking alcohol (the more alcohol a woman consume the bigger is a chance of cancer development), etc.

Symptoms of the breast cancer are not always obvious; they are usually invisible to an eye of an average person. If you have any suspicion or have mentioned something unusual going on with your body, it would be wiser to go to see the doctor, – home diagnosing usually fails. If a woman has a symptom (skin irritation or dimpling, breast/nipple pain, redness, scaliness, etc.) or screening test result indicates an availability of a tumor, further research should be made before final diagnose is established. Physical exams must be taken, mammogram or other imaging procedure are also of great use. Women with breast cancer have many treatment alternatives. Most women go through more than one form of treatment, among which there can be surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and biological therapy.

Researching the topic I realized how many resources there are nowadays available for people with breast cancer. There is a huge amount of information concerning the issue of the disease. The problem is extremely topical one, and attempts to get people well informed are truly remarkable. There is also a possibility of contacting specialists provided, which helps to diagnose own problems without actually visiting a doctor. It shouldn’t surely exclude the visit to medical establishments in case of suspicious symptoms being noticed, but it is a great opportunity to get yourself knowledgeable and ready for any outcome. It also helps to analyze own health condition critically, without putting one’s entire trust in just one specialist’s opinion.

References

Breastcancer.org. (2008). What is breast cancer? Retrieved November 14, 2099, from http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/understand_bc/what_is_bc.jsp

National Cancer Institute: Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results. Cancer Statistics Review 1975-2006: Annual Incidence Rates. Retrieved November 14, 2009, from http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2006/browse_csr.php?section=4&page=sect_04_table.07.html

National Cancer Institute: Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results. Cancer Statistics Review 1975-2006: 5-Year SEER Conditional Relative Survival Rates.  Retrieved November 14, 2009, from http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2006/browse_csr.php?section=4&page=sect_04_zfig.11.html#tableContent

[1] SEER 9 areas (San Francisco, Connecticut, Detroit, Hawaii, Iowa, New Mexico, Seattle, Utah, and Atlanta). Rates are per 100,000 and are age-adjusted to the 2000 US Std Population (19 age groups – Census P25-1130).