Breast Cancer-a Threat to Life

Among various types of cancers found, breast cancer is considered to be the most common among women in USA (other than skin cancer). In USA, about 192,000 women and 2000 men are diagnosed to be suffered from breast cancer every year.

What is Breast Cancer?

An abnormal or uncontrolled development of cells in the breast is called breast cancer. This abnormality forms a tumor in the milk ducts which carry milk to the nipples and this situation gives rise to a breast cancer.

It is regarded as a malignant cancer which can spread to the other parts of the body.

Symptoms of breast cancer

• Pain in breast
• A lump in breast area or under the arm
• Swelling in the breast
• Change in size of the breast
• Skin irritation
• Inward position of nipples
• Redness of nipple
• Nipple discharge

Causes of Breast Cancer

The exact cause of the breast cancer has not diagnosed yet but there are some risk factors which may be responsible for the occurrence of breast cancer in women                                  .

Age

Breast cancer is most common in women of older age. It has been found that the women at the age of 50 or more have the greater risk of having breast cancer than that of younger age.

Gender

Throughout the world, the females are at the highest risk of having breast cancer. It is diagnosed that in US, every 1 woman out of 8 is at the risk of having breast cancer in her lifetime. Men, too, can have breast cancer but their ratio is very low.

Heredity

The women whose close relatives like mothers or sisters who have been diagnosed with breast cancer are more susceptible to get attacked by this serious threat. But it is also found that 90% of breast cancers are not born due to heredity factors.

Hormones

Female sex hormone known as estrogen can also enhance the risk of breast cancer in certain ways-

• Early beginning of menstrual cycle (before 12)
• Late menopause (after 55)
• No child birth
• Late pregnancy
• Intake of birth control pills

Use of alcohol

Women who consume excessive alcohol have a greater risk of having breast cancer.

Personal History

A woman, who had suffered from cancer earlier in her lifetime, has an increased risk of getting breast cancer again.

Radiation Therapy

Young females, (below 30) who had gone certain radiation therapy to their breast area are more likely to have breast cancer.

Weight

Being overweight or consumption of extra fats can also lead to the risk of breast cancer.

Treatment of Breast cancer

Breast cancer is no more an incurable threat to life. With a wide range of studies and experiments in medical field, several treatments are available worldwide to fight against this terrible disaster.

Surgery

Surgery is the primary and most common treatment used for breast cancer. There are many types of surgery according to the size and location of tumor in the breast.

1. Lumpectomy- it is also known as breast-conserving therapy. In this type of surgery, only the lump or tumor and small amount of normal tissues surrounding it are removed. In some cases, surgeon may also remove some lymph-nodes under the arm.
2. Partial Mastectomy- in this method, a comparatively larger part of the cancerous breast tissues is removed. In some cases, the lining over the chest muscles and some lymph nodes can also be removed by the surgeon.
3. Mastectomy- it is a non-breast conserving method of breast cancer treatment. Removal of the breast is known as Mastectomy.  
   

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   It is further categorized as below:-

• Total Mastectomy- in this method, the whole cancerous affected breast is removed, but lymph nodes are not removed. 
• Modified Radical Mastectomy- removal of the entire breast along with the nipple and lymph nodes under the arm is called modified radical mastectomy.
• Radical Mastectomy- in this method, the whole breast including nipples, lymph nodes and the lining of chest under the muscles id removed. This treatment is rarely used today in the case when cancer spreads to the chest muscles.

• 4. Radiation Therapy

It is a method in which high-energy rays are used to destroy cancer cells. This therapy is used after a lumpectomy of mastectomy surgery. Generally, there are two types of radio-therapy;-

• External Radiation- it is most widely used radiation technique in which large machines called linear accelerators are used to deliver radiations to the cancerous part of the breast. These radiations are given for 5 days a week up to 6-7 weeks.
• Internal Radiation- it is known as Brachy therapy method in which radiations are not used from outside the body. Instead, thin plastic tubes or catheters known as implants are put directly inside the breast tissues. These implants are filled with a radioactive substance called as Iridium-192. During this treatment, a machine is used to deliver this substance in the catheter which is known as Brache therapy machine. 
• The patient needs almost 9 or more sittings within a week. Every treatment lasts for about 10 minutes and the implant is taken out after a week. After that, the patient is allowed to go home. 

• 5. Chemotherapy

It is a method in which anti-cancer medicines or drugs are used to destroy the cancer cells in the body.

Chemotherapy can be done before or after the surgery depending on the intensity of the disease. In some cases, chemotherapy medicines are used in a combination of 2 or 3 medicines. This is called as chemotherapy regimens. It is regarded as the most effective method for breast cancer treatment.

Some chemotherapy drugs are taken orally as in the form of pills where as some are in the form of injections. These are directly injected into the veins which carry blood to different parts of the body.

Side effects of Chemotherapy

• Hair loss, Nausea and vomiting, Fatigue, Menstrual problems, Infertility, Anemia, Skin irritations, Kidney infections

 6. Hormone Therapy

There are two main female hormone-estrogen and progesterone. These hormones may contribute to the growth of cancer cells in women. This situation is known as hormone receptor positive breast cancer. In such case, the hormone therapy is used to reduce or stop the growth of these hormones in the body and thus reducing the cancer cells growth.

Generally, two types of hormone therapies are used to cure breast cancer.

• Use of drugs which can block the growth of natural hormones
• Use of surgery to inhibit the growth of hormones in the ovaries, because estrogen hormone is mainly produced by the female ovaries.

In some severe cases, the ovaries are removed completely through surgery to treat hormone receptor positive breast cancer.

 7. Biological therapy

In this therapy, some antibodies are used to fight against cancer cells. These antibodies can be made naturally inside our body or made artificially in the laboratory.

• Herceptine- it is the most common used artificial antibody to stop the growth of cancer cells. Herceptine is given only to those women who have HER-2 gene in their tumor cells. Herceptine inhibits the growth of this HER-2 gene and thus stop the cancer cells to multiply further. It is given through veins.

 Side Effects

• Fever and chills, Nausea, Muscular pain, Breathing problems, Weakness, Heart problems. 

8. Complementary Medicines
The medicines which are used in addition or complement of other medicines are known as complementary medicines. The reason for recommending these medicines is that they are safer and have very less side effects as compared to the other conventional treatment methods of breast cancer. These medicines lessen the side effects or symptoms of disease after treatment. They provide the patient-physical, mental and emotional relief. There are hundreds of complementary treatments which are given to the patients according to the nature and intensity of the disease.

Mostly used complementary medicine treatment

• Acupuncture
• Massage
• Hypnosis
• Meditation
• Reiki
• Shiatsu
• Yoga
• Music therapy
• Aromatherapy