Question

Breast cancer

Answer 1

Breast cancer

Breast cancer in simple words is the cancer of the lung tissue. It can invade other parts of the body if untreated and it is the second most leading cause of cancer death in the world.

Breast cancer is the development of malignant tumors in the lobules (glands that produce milk) or the ducts (a passageway of milk from glands to the nipple) of the breast due to mutation in genes that regulate the cell growth.

Symptoms

The symptoms of breast cancer include

• The recent development of lump or mass on the breast.
• Pain or lump and tenderness on the breast or the adjacent axilla.
• Blood containing discharge from the nipple.
• Newly inverted nipple or dimpling on the breast tissue.
• Change in the size and shape of the nipple.

Risk factors

• Old age
• Menopause
• Hormonal replacement therapy
• obesity and sedentary lifestyle
• Infertility.
• family history of breast cancer
• Previous history of breast lump or cancer.
• Alcoholism

Types

There are two categories of breast cancers, invasive and noninvasive or in situ.

1. Non-invasive or in situ breast cancer means the cancer is confined to the breast tissue and not spread to another part of the body. This type includes ductal carcinoma in situ ( confined to ductus)and lobular carcinoma in situ ( confined o lobules).
2. Invasive breast cancer means breast cancer spread to adjacent tissues, lymph nodes and other parts of the body. This type includes invasive ductal carcinoma and invasive lobular carcinoma.

Stages

Stage 0; The tumor cells are limited to the origin and not spread to the nearby tissues and lymph nodes. The tumor will be 2 centimeters or less in size.

Stage 1; The tumor will grow 2 centimeters or more and invade the nearby lymph nodes.

Stage 2; Tumor size increase to 2 centimeters or more and spread to 1 - 3 lymph nodes or tumor size around 2 to 5 centimeters and not spread to lymph nodes.

Stage 3; The tumor size increase 5 or more and spread to many lymph nodes.

Stage 4; The cancer cells metastasis to different distant organs.

Diagnosis

• Self-breast examination for any changes in the breast, presence of lump or mass or discharge.
• Breast examination by a physician
• Imaging studies like a mammogram, ultrasound, and MRI
• Biopsy of the lump

Treatment

1. Surgery; Lumpectomy, mastectomy, sentinel node biopsy, axillary lymph node dissection, Contralateral prophylactic mastectomy ( both breasts are removed even though the cancer is only on one breast as a prophylactic measure).
2. Radiation therapy and brachytherapy
3. Chemotherapy and targeted drug therapy.
4. Hormone therapy ( blocking estrogen and progesterone hormones production in the body or blocking the hormone receptors in the cancer cells).