Earlier the diagnosis of breast cancer usually meant radical mastectomy which involved the removal of the entire breast along with underarm lymph nodes and skin and muscles underneath the breast. Today, radical mastectomy is rarely performed. Instead, there are more and better treatment options, and many women are candidates for breast-sparing operations.
Inflammatory breast cancer is an uncommon type of breast cancer in which the breast is warm, red, and swollen.
Age and health history can affect the risk of developing breast cancer. Anything that increases the chance of getting a disease is called a risk factor. Risk factors for breast cancer include the following:
- Treatment with radiation therapy to the breast/chest.
Older age.
Menstruating at an early age.
Older age at first birth or never having given birth.
A personal history of breast cancer or benign (noncancer) breast disease.
A family history, mother or sister with breast cancer.
Breast tissue that is dense on a mammogram.
Taking hormones such as estrogen and progesterone.
Drinking alcoholic beverages.
Being white.
Metastatic Breast Cancer
Metastatic breast cancer is considered to be the most dreadful disease. This type means that breast cancer that has not just come back, but has made its way through the bloodstream and spread to other organs of the body, such as the bones, liver, or brain. Breast cancer spread may be present at first diagnosis or after recurrence.
Metastatic breast cancer women can live for years with the disease under control. For these women, living with a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer is like living with a chronic disease. It can go into remission, be active sometimes and not others, or move quickly. It frequently involves trying one treatment after another; ideally with breaks in between treatments when one feel good. The goal of treatment is to help to feel as well as possible and to let live a longer life.
No one can tell how long one will live with metastatic disease. That's because every woman's experience is different. Some women live for more than a decade. Others live for just a few seasons. But new and more effective treatments keep being developed. This means that patients may do much better today with metastatic disease than someone who had it only a few years ago.
In this phase of breast cancer, the treatment goal is to extend life as long as possible with the best quality of life possible. This means relieving symptoms and putting breast cancer into remission with the fewest side effects.
Metastatic breast cancer responds best if:
The cancer has not spread to any organs, such as the liver, lung, and brain.
If it has spread throughout the body, no more than three organs or parts of the body are involved (the fewer the better).
Estrogen and/or progesterone hormone receptors are present in these cancer cells.
There's no evidence that the tumor has stopped responding (become resistant) to hormonal therapy, Herceptin or chemotherapy.
Breast Cancer Causes
Breast cancer causes are a bit specific. The most common type of breast cancer begins in the milk-producing ducts, but cancer may also occur in the lobules or in other breast tissue.
In most cases, it isn't clear what triggers abnormal cell growth in breast tissue, but doctors do know that between 5 percent and 10 percent of breast cancers are inherited. Defects in one of two genes, breast cancer gene 1 (BRCA1) or breast cancer gene 2 (BRCA2), put the person at greater risk of developing both breast and ovarian cancer.
Inherited mutations in the ataxia-telangiectasia mutation gene, the cell-cycle checkpoint kinase 2 (CHEK-2) genes and the p53 tumor suppressor gene also make it more likely that one will develop breast cancer.
Yet most genetic mutations related to breast cancer aren't inherited but instead develop during the lifetime. These acquired mutations may result from radiation exposure i.e. women treated with chest radiation therapy in childhood, for instance, have a significantly higher incidence of breast cancer than do women not exposed to radiation.
Mutations may also develop as a result of exposure to cancer-causing chemicals, such as the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found in tobacco and charred red meats.
In the long run, establishing a link between genetic mutations and cancer is just the first step. Now researchers are trying to learn if a relationship exists between genetic makeup and environmental factors that may increase the risk of breast cancer. Although these studies are still preliminary, breast cancer eventually may prove to have a number of causes.
Symptoms of Breast Cancer or Sign of Breast Cancer
Knowing the symptoms of breast cancer or sign of breast cancer may help save the life. When the disease is discovered early, the more treatment options and a better chance for long-term recovery are possible.
Most breast lumps aren't cancerous. Yet the most common sign of breast cancer for both men and women is a lump or thickening in the breast. Often, the lump is painless. Other symptoms of breast cancer or sign of breast cancer include:
