Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. There are more than 55,000 new cases in the UK every year and 11,500 women die from the disease. In the United States it attacks 266,000 each year and kills 40,000. But what causes it and how can it be cured?
What is breast cancer?
Breast cancer develops from a cancerous cell that develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts.
When breast cancer has spread to surrounding breast tissue, it is called “invasive” breast cancer. Some people are diagnosed with “carcinoma in situ,” in which cancer cells have not grown beyond the duct or lobule.
Most cases develop in women over the age of 50, but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men, although this is rare.
Staging means how big the cancer is and whether it has spread. Stage 1 is the first stage and stage 4 indicates that the cancer has spread to another part of the body.
Cancer cells are classified from low, which means slow growth, to high, which means rapid growth. High-grade cancers are more likely to recur after being treated for the first time.
What are the causes of breast cancer?
A cancerous tumor starts from an abnormal cell. The exact reason a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. Something is thought to damage or alter some genes in the cell. This causes the cell to be abnormal and multiply “out of control”.
Although breast cancer can develop for no apparent reason, there are some risk factors that can increase the chance of developing breast cancer, such as genetics.
What are the symptoms of breast cancer?
The usual first symptom is a painless breast lump, although most breast lumps are non-cancerous and are fluid-filled cysts, which are benign.
The first place breast cancer usually spreads is the lymph nodes in the armpit. In this case, you will develop a swelling or lump in an armpit.
How is breast cancer diagnosed?
- Initial evaluation: A doctor examines the breasts and armpits. They may perform tests such as a mammogram, a special X-ray of the breast tissue that can indicate the possibility of tumors.
- Biopsy: A biopsy is when a small sample of tissue is removed from a part of the body. The sample is then examined under a microscope for abnormal cells. The sample can confirm or rule out cancer.
If it is confirmed that you have breast cancer, more tests may be needed to see if it has spread. For example, blood tests, a liver ultrasound, or a chest X-ray.
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How is breast cancer treated?
Treatment options that may be considered include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and hormone treatment. A combination of two or more of these treatments is often used.
- Surgery: Conservative surgery or removal of the affected breast depending on the size of the tumor.
- Radiotherapy: A treatment that uses high-energy beams of radiation focused on cancerous tissue. This kills the cancer cells or stops the cancer cells from multiplying. It is mainly used in addition to surgery.
- Chemotherapy: Cancer treatment that uses anticancer drugs that kill cancer cells or prevent them from dividing.
- Hormone treatments: Some types of breast cancer are affected by the “female” hormone estrogen, which can stimulate cancer cells to divide and multiply. Treatments that lower the level of these hormones, or stop them from working, are commonly used in people with breast cancer.
How effective is the treatment?
The prognosis is better in those diagnosed when the cancer is still small and has not spread. Surgical removal of a tumor at an early stage can offer a good chance of a cure.
Routine mammography offered to women between the ages of 50 and 70 means that more breast cancers are diagnosed and treated at an early stage.
For more information visit breastcancercare.org.uk, breastcancernow.org or www.cancerhelp.org.uk
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