At Obatos Care Services, we do our best to enlighten our amazing clients and the general public on some sensitive information as pertains to their health and well being. It is October, The World recognizes this month as blood cancer awareness month and we have taken out time to make this blog post explaining all you need to know.
What’s Breast Cancer?
Cancer develops when changes in genes that control cell development, known as mutations, occur. The mutations allow the cells to proliferate and replicate in an unregulated manner.
Breast cancer is cancer that arises in breast cells. Typically, breast cancer develops in the lobules or ducts.
Lobules are milk-producing glands, while ducts are the channels that carry milk from the glands to the nipple. Cancer may also develop in the fatty tissue or fibrous connective tissue of your breast.
Uncontrolled cancer cells often infect other healthy breast tissue and may move to lymph nodes beneath the arms. When cancer penetrates the lymph nodes, it gains access to a route to spread to other regions of the body.
The Symptoms of Breast Cancer
Breast cancer often has no obvious signs in its early stages. Even if a tumor is too tiny to feel with the naked eye, a mammography may often detect an anomaly in the breast tissue. A new, unexplained lump in the breast is often the first symptom of a breast tumor that can be felt. On the other hand, not every lump indicates malignancy.
Symptoms of breast cancer may vary widely depending on the kind of disease. While many of these symptoms overlap, there may also be others that are unique.
Common Breast Cancer Symptoms Include:
- Having recently had breast discomfort and seeing a lump or unusual thickness in the breast.
- A lump, red or discolored, pitted skin on the breast, or a lump in one or both breasts.
- A nipple discharge that is not breast milk
- Blood discharge from the nipple, peeling, scaling, or flaking skin of the nipple or breast, a rapid, inexplicable Change in the form or size of the breast, an inverted nipple, and a change in the look of the breast skin.
- Painless swelling beneath the arm
- Having any of these signs does not always indicate that you have breast cancer. A benign cyst, for instance, is a Potential source of breast discomfort or a breast lump.
But if you feel a lump in your breast or have other symptoms, it’s important to see a doctor very once.
Types of Breast Cancer
Breast cancer may be further subdivided into the invasive and noninvasive types. Cancer of the breast that has not spread into nearby tissue is called “in situ” cancer.
Noninvasive cancer has not metastasized from the initial tissue, whereas invasive cancer has migrated from the breast ducts or glands to other areas of the breast.
The most frequent forms of breast cancer may be broken down into these two groups.
- Ductal carcinoma in situ: is a noninvasive condition. The cancer cells in DCIS are restricted to the ducts in your breast and have not spread to the surrounding breast tissue.
- Lobular carcinoma in situ: is a kind of breast cancer that develops in the milk-producing glands. The cancer cells, like DCIS, have not penetrated the surrounding tissue.
- Invasive ductal carcinoma: is a kind of cancer that develops in the milk-producing glands of your breast. The cancer cells, like DCIS, have not infiltrated the surrounding tissue.
- Invasive lobular carcinoma: begins in the lobules of your breast and spreads to adjacent tissue.
Other, less prevalent kinds of breast cancer include:
- Paget disease of the nipple: This form of breast cancer originates in the ducts of the nipple, but as it progresses, it affects the skin and areola of the nipple.
- Phyllodes tumor: This very uncommon kind of breast cancer develops in the connective tissue of the breast.
- Angiosarcoma: This is cancer that develops in the breast’s blood vessels or lymph vessels.
Your cancer type influences your treatment options and long-term prognosis.
Inflammatory Breast Cancer
Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a type of breast cancer that is rare but very dangerous. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) says that IBC only makes up 1% to 5% of all cases of breast cancer.
In this condition, cells get stuck in the lymph nodes near the breasts. This makes it hard for the lymph vessels in the breasts to drain properly. IBC doesn’t cause a tumor. Instead, it makes your breast swell up, turn red, and feel very warm. Your breast may look like an orange peel, with bumps and a thick skin.
IBC can move quickly and be very aggressive. Because of this, it’s important to talk to your doctor right away if you start to feel sick.
Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Another uncommon illness is triple-negative breast cancer. The American Cancer Society says that only about 10 to 15% of people with breast cancer get it (ACS).
For a tumor to be called triple-negative breast cancer, it must have all three of the following:
- It has no receptors for estrogen. These are the parts of the cells that the hormone estrogen binds to. If a tumor has receptors for estrogen, estrogen can make the tumor grow.
- It doesn’t have receptors for progesterone. The hormone progesterone binds to these cells, which are called receptors. Progesterone can make a tumor grow if it has progesterone receptors.
- On its surface, there are no more human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) proteins. A protein called HER2 is what makes breast cancer grow.
When these three things are true about a tumor, it is called “triple-negative breast cancer.” This type of breast cancer tends to grow and spread faster than other types.
It is hard to treat triple-negative breast cancer because hormone therapy for breast cancer doesn’t work.
The Stages of Breast Cancer
Doctors put breast cancer into different stages based on how big the tumor is and how far it has spread.
Cancers that are big or have spread to nearby tissues or organs are at a more advanced stage than cancers that are small or are still only in the breast. For doctors to stage breast cancer, they need to know:
If the cancer is spreading or not, how big the tumor is, if the lymph nodes are involved, and if the cancer has spread to nearby organs or tissues.
There Are Five Main Stages of Breast Cancer, From 0 to 4.
Stage 0 Cancer of The Breast
Stage 0 is DCIS. In DCIS, the cancer cells stay in the ducts of the breast and haven’t spread to other parts of the body.
Breast Cancer At The Stage 1
Stage 1A. The main tumor is less than 2 centimeters (cm) wide. There is nothing wrong with the lymph nodes.
Stage 1B. Cancer is found in lymph nodes close by. Either the breast doesn’t have a tumor or the tumor is smaller than 2 cm.
Breast Cancer At Stage 2
Stage 2A. The tumor is smaller than 2 cm and has only spread to 1 to 3 lymph nodes nearby, or it’s between 2 and 5 cm and hasn’t spread to any lymph nodes.
Stage 2B. The tumor is between 2 and 5 cm and has spread to 1 to 3 lymph nodes in the armpit, or it’s bigger than 5 cm and hasn’t spread to any lymph nodes.
Breast Cancer At Stage 3
Stage 3A.
The cancer has spread to 4 to 9 lymph nodes in the armpit or has grown the lymph nodes inside the breast. The size of the main tumor can vary.
Cancerous growths are bigger than 5 cm. The cancer has spread to one to three lymph nodes in the armpit or to lymph nodes in the breastbone.
Stage 3B. A tumor has spread to the chest wall or skin, and it may have spread to as many as 9 lymph nodes.
Stage 3C. Cancer is found in 10 or more lymph nodes in the armpit, lymph nodes near the collarbone, or lymph nodes inside the breasts.
Breast Cancer At Stage 4 (Metastatic Breast Cancer)
A tumor of any size can form in stage 4 breast cancer. Its cancer cells have spread to lymph nodes near and far, as well as to organs far away.
Your doctor’s tests will show what stage your breast cancer is in, which will affect how you are treated.
Male Breast Cancer
Men have breast tissue just like women do, even though they tend to have less of it. Men can also get breast cancer, but it happens much less often.
The ACS says that black men are 70 times less likely than black women to get breast cancer. White men are 100 times less likely to have it than white women.
Still, men can get breast cancer, which is just as serious as breast cancer in women. It has the same signs as well. If you are a man, you should do the same things as women and tell your doctor about any changes to your breast tissue or new lumps.
Breast Cancer Survival Rates
Survival rates for breast cancer vary a lot depending on many things. The type of cancer you have and how far along it is when you find out you have it are two of the most important things. Other things that might play a part are:
- Your age
- Your gender
- Your race
- How fast the cancer is growing
Research from 2021 shows that the death rate for people of color with breast cancer is higher than the death rate for white people with breast cancer. One reason for this could be differences in health care.
The good news is that the number of people who survive breast cancer is going up.
The ACS says that in 1975, 75.2 percent of women with breast cancer lived for 5 years after their diagnosis. But it was 90.6% for women who got sick between 2008 and 2014.
Different stages of breast cancer have different five-year survival rates. They range from 99 percent for early cancers that are localized to 27 percent for late-stage cancers that have spread.
Diagnoses of Breast Cancer
Your doctor will do a full physical exam as well as a breast exam to figure out if your symptoms are caused by breast cancer or a harmless breast condition. They may also ask you to take one or more tests to figure out what’s causing your symptoms.
Breast Cancer Diagnostic Tests Include:
Mammogram
A mammogram is the most common way to see what’s going on under the surface of your breast. Many women over 40 get mammograms every year to look for breast cancer. Your doctor will also ask for a mammogram if they think you might have a tumor or a strange spot. If your mammogram shows something unusual, your doctor may want to do more tests.
Ultrasound
Sound waves are used in a breast ultrasound to make a picture of the tissues deep in your breast. Your doctor can tell the difference between a solid mass like a tumor and a harmless cyst with the help of an ultrasound. Your doctor might also suggest tests like an MRI or a biopsy of your breast.
Biopsy of The Breast
If your doctor suspects breast cancer based on testing such as a mammogram or an ultrasound, they may do a breast biopsy.
During this test, your doctor will take a small piece of tissue from the area that seems odd so that it can be tested.
Breast biopsies can be done in different ways. For some of these tests, your doctor will take a tissue sample with a needle. In some cases, they cut a hole in your breast and then take the sample out.
The tissue sample will be sent to a lab by your doctor. If the sample shows signs of cancer, the lab can do more tests to find out what kind of cancer you have and tell your doctor.
Treatment for Breast Cancer
Your treatment will depend a lot on the stage of your breast cancer, how far it has spread (if it has), and how big the tumor is.
First, your doctor will figure out the size, stage, and grade of your cancer. The grade of your cancer shows how likely it is to get worse and spread. After that, you can talk about your options for treatment.
The most common way to treat breast cancer is through surgery. Many people also get treatments like chemotherapy, targeted therapy, radiation, or hormone therapy.
Surgery
There are different kinds of surgery that can be used to get rid of breast cancer, such as:
- Lumpectomy. This surgery takes out the tumor and some of the tissue around it. The rest of the breast stays the same.
- Mastectomy. During this procedure, a doctor takes out a whole breast. In a double mastectomy, both breasts are taken off.
- Sentinel node biopsy. During this surgery, a few of the lymph nodes that drain the tumor are taken out. Tests will be done on these lymph nodes. If they don’t have cancer, you might not need more surgery to take out more lymph nodes.
- Axillary lymph node dissection. If cancer cells are found in the lymph nodes that are taken out during a sentinel node biopsy, your doctor may take out more lymph nodes.
- Prophylactic contralateral mastectomy Even though breast cancer may only be in one breast, some people choose to have a preventive mastectomy on the other breast. With this surgery, your healthy breast is taken away to lower the chance that you will get breast cancer again.
Radiation Therapies
High-powered beams of radiation are used in radiation therapy to find and kill cancer cells. Most radiation treatments use radiation that comes from the outside. For this method, a big machine is put on the outside of the body.
Doctors can also now use radiation to kill cancer cells from inside the body, thanks to advances in cancer treatment. Breastcancer.org says that this kind of radiation therapy is called “brachytherapy.”
For brachytherapy, surgeons put radioactive seeds or pellets near the tumor site inside the body. The seeds stay there for a short time and kill cancer cells while they are there.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. Chemotherapy is a type of treatment that is sometimes used on its own, but it is usually used with other treatments, especially surgery.
Some people will have surgery first, then chemo or radiation or other treatments. This kind of therapy is called “adjuvant.” Some people may first get neoadjuvant therapy, which is chemotherapy to shrink the cancer, and then surgery.
In some situations, doctors would rather give chemotherapy first than do surgery. The treatment is meant to make the tumor smaller so that surgery won’t have to be as invasive.
Chemotherapy can cause many unwanted side effects, so talk to your doctor about your worries before starting treatment.
Hormone Therapies
If your type of breast cancer responds to hormones, your doctor may start you on hormone therapy. Estrogen and progesterone are two female hormones that can make breast cancer tumors grow faster.
Hormone therapy works by stopping your body from making these hormones or by stopping the cancer cells from getting the hormones they need. This thing you can do can help stop or slow the growth of your cancer.
Some additional medications
Some treatments are made to attack specific problems or changes that cancer cells have.
Herceptin (trastuzumab), for example, can stop your body from making the HER2 protein. HER2 makes breast cancer cells grow, so taking a drug to slow the production of this protein could slow the growth of the cancer.
Your doctor will give you more information about any treatment they think would be best for you.
Breast cancer care
Schedule a medical consultation if you see a suspicious lump or spot in your breast or any other breast cancer symptoms.
Most likely, it’s not breast cancer. For example, there are many other things that could cause lumps in the breasts.
But if it turns out that your problem is cancer, remember that getting treatment early is the key. If breast cancer is found early enough, it can often be treated and cured. The longer breast cancer is allowed to grow, the harder it is to treat.
If you’ve already been told you have breast cancer, remember that cancer treatments and outcomes are always getting better. So stick to your plan for treatment and try to stay upbeat.
Breast Cancer Risk Factors
There are many things that can make you more likely to get breast cancer. But having any of these doesn’t guarantee that you will get the disease.
Some risk factors, like your family history, can’t be changed. You can change other things that put you at risk, like smoking. Some things that can cause breast cancer are:
- Age. As you get older, your chance of getting breast cancer goes up. Most women with invasive breast cancer are over 55 years old.
- Drinking alcohol. Alcohol use disorder raises your risk.
- Having dense breast tissue. Mammograms are hard to read when the breast tissue is very dense. It can also make you more likely to get breast cancer.
- Gender. The American Cancer Society says that white women are 100 times more likely than white men to get breast cancer, and black women are 70 times more likely than black men to get breast cancer.
- Genes. People with mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are more likely to get breast cancer than people without these mutations. Your risk may also be affected by changes in other genes.
- Premature menstruation. If you had your first period before you turned 12, your chance of getting breast cancer is higher.
- Getting pregnant later in life. When a woman has her first child after 35, her risk of getting breast cancer goes up.
- Therapy for hormones. People who have taken or are taking estrogen and progesterone after menopause to ease the symptoms of menopause are more likely to get breast cancer.
- Inherited risk. If a close female relative of yours has had breast cancer, you are more likely to get it yourself. This includes your mom, grandma, sister, or daughter. Even if no one in your family has had breast cancer, you can still get it. In fact, most people who get it don’t have a history of it in their family.
- Late menopause start. When a woman goes through menopause after age 55, she is more likely to get breast cancer.
- Never having been pregnant. People who have never been pregnant or carried a pregnancy to term are more likely to get breast cancer.
- A history of breast cancer If you’ve had breast cancer in one breast, you’re more likely to get it in the other breast or in a different part of the breast that was already affected.
Strategies for Breast Cancer Prevention
Even though there are some risk factors you can’t change, you can lower your risk of breast cancer by living a healthy life, getting regular screenings, and taking any preventive steps your doctor suggests.
Living Conditions
Your risk of getting breast cancer can be affected by how you live. For example, people who are overweight are more likely to get breast cancer. You could lose weight and lower your risk if you ate a diet full of nutrients and worked out as often as possible.
Alcohol abuse, according to the American Association for Cancer Research, also raises your risk. This can mean drinking more than two drinks a day or drinking a lot all at once.
Talk to your doctor about how much you should drink if you drink alcohol.
Breast Cancer Screenings
Getting regular mammograms may not stop breast cancer, but it can make it less likely that it won’t be found until it’s too late.
The American College of Physicians (ACP) has these general suggestions for women who have an average chance of getting breast cancer:
40–49-year-old women. It’s not recommended to get a mammogram every year, but you can talk to your doctor about what you’d like.
50–74-year-old women. A mammogram should be done every other year.
Women over 75 years old. No one is told to get a mammogram anymore.
The ACP also says that women with a life expectancy of 10 years or less should not get mammograms.
Preventive Measures
Because of your genes, you may have a higher chance of getting breast cancer. For example, if your parent has a mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, you have a higher chance of having it too. This makes your chance of getting breast cancer much higher.
If you are at risk for this mutation, talk to your doctor about your options for diagnosing and preventing it. You might want to get checked to see if you have the mutation.
And if you find out you have it, talk to your doctor about what you can do to lower your chances of getting breast cancer. One of these steps could be a preventive mastectomy, which is when a breast is surgically removed. You could also try Chemoprophylaxis, or taking drugs like Tamoxifen, to lower your risk of getting breast cancer.
A breast exam is another way to look for signs of breast cancer besides mammograms.
Self – Exams
Many people check their own breasts. This test should be taken once a month at the same time. The exam can help you get used to how your breasts normally look and feel so you can notice any changes.
Keep in mind, though, that the ACS thinks these exams are optional because current research hasn’t shown that physical exams, whether done at home or by a doctor, have any clear benefits.
Your doctor will check your breasts
The same rules apply when your doctor or other medical professional does a breast exam for you as when you do it yourself. They won’t hurt you, and your doctor may check your breasts when you go in for your yearly checkup.
If you’re worried about your symptoms, you should have your doctor do a breast exam. During the exam, your doctor will look at both of your breasts for any unusual spots or signs of breast cancer.
Your doctor may also look at other parts of your body to see if your symptoms could be caused by something else.
