BREAST CANCER TREATMENTS AND PREVENTIONS

More knowledge about Breast Cancer:-

Breast cancer is a kind of cancer that develops from breast cells. Breast cancer usually starts off in the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply them with milk. A malignant tumour can spread to other parts of the body.

These cells usually form a tumour, felt as a lump and can be seen on an x-ray or sometimes can be identified with other breast changes. It is the most common cancer found in women.

Breast cancer develops in the ducts or lobules of the breast. Lobules are the milk producing glands and ducts are the pathways that supply the milk to the nipple. Cancer cells develop when the cells lining the ducts or lobules become abnormal in size and shape and start multiplying in an uncontrolled way. Causes like age, family history, not breastfeeding, alcohol, being obese or overweight increase the risk of breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Symptoms and Signs:-

Early Signs:-

1. Hard & irregular lump in the breast, which does not go away and is attached to the skin or the chest wall.
2. Lump in the maxillary.
3. Changes in breast shape or size.
4. Skin changes-orange peel skin or pea d orange.
5. Redness & swelling.
6. Nipple discharge.
7. Crusting, ulcer or scaling

Late signs:-

• Bone pain
• Nausea
• Loss of appetite & weight loss
• Jaundice
• Headache
• Double vision
• Muscle weakness

Causes of Breast Cancer:

• Old age
• Family history
• Early menstrual period/Menarche
• Late Menopause
• Hormone replacement Therapy
  First Baby conceived late in Life (but a healthy lifestyle can make up for it. Talk to a doctor)

How its diagnosis can be done? :-
Diagnosis will be based on Patient’s history, Physical examination and Investigations

Detailed history– includes signs, symptoms and any associated risk factors

Physical examination– includes complete (clinical) breast examination along with examination of other systems.

Investigations – includes

• Mammography
• Ultrasound
• Biopsy – FNAC
• Lymph node biopsy
• Liver ultrasound
• Blood chemistry test
• Bone scan
• Chest x-ray Mammography
• Complete blood count
• Magnetic resonance imaging

Best Cancer Treatments to follow up: –

Breast Surgery:

• Breast conserving therapy and radiation therapy.
• Modified radical mastectomy
• Maxillary lymph node dissection
• Sentinel lymph node dissection

Therapy:

Radiation therapy: Controlled doses of radiation are targeted at the tumour to destroy cancer cells.
Chemotherapy: Medications are used to kill the cancer cells. These are called cytotoxic drugs.
Hormonal therapy: It may help curb the growth, spread or recurrence of some type of cancer. It helps shrink or slow the growth of advanced-stage
Biological therapy:  It helps to use the body immune system to curb the cancer. It involves using substances derived from living organisms, or laboratory-produced versions of such substances to treat cancer. Some biological therapies for cancer use vaccines or bacteria to stimulate the body’s immune system to act against cancer cells.
Bisphosphonates: These are the drugs that slow down or prevent bone damage. This treatment is done when cancer has spread to the bone from another part of the body.

Every should know about Breast Cancer:-

First of all, breast cancer isn’t a death sentence: overall, about 60% of women survive breast cancer, and go on to live long and healthy lives. The percentage can be as high as 99%, depending on the particular type and stage of breast cancer. And many, many women are in the 80%-85% survival range, which covers women in whom the cancer hasn’t advanced beyond a few local lymph nodes under the arm. So, if you hear this diagnosis – either for yourself or a loved one – don’t panic. Chances are good the patient will survive, and do just fine.

Prevention methods are:

• Keep Weight in Check
• Avoid Birth Control Pills, Particularly After Age 35 or If You Smoke
• Avoid Postmenopausal Hormones
• Don’t Smoke
• Be Physically Active.

Foods that are effective in breast cancer:-

1. Mushrooms:-

This super food can stop the malignant cancerous cells from spreading.

2. Broccoli:-

 It’s ability to lower the risk of breast cancer.

3. Turmeric and Garlic:-

A compound that can prevent the cancerous cells from spreading and growing.

4. Spinach:-

Few studies in this field have found that certain remarkably powerful compounds in spinach can inhibit the growth of malignant cells that can cause breast cancer. Include it in your regular diet and reap its benefits.

5. Salmon:-

It is a great source of anticancer agents and omega-3 fatty acids that can act as natural defenders.

How it can be cured? :-

With early diagnosis of small cancers using modern breast imaging screening and appropriate surgery to remove the cancer, the large majority of women can be diagnosed and treated successfully.

Some women just have more aggressive cancers or cancers that are not visualized well on mammogram. For them, the cancers are found larger and also within the lymph nodes under that arm. They are appropriately treated with more surgery (mastectomy instead of lumpectomy) and with added radiation therapy and when indicated also chemotherapy, 5 year cancer free survival rates still should be in the high 80 percent.

There has been a lot of debate about the value of yearly mammograms. With aggressive yearly screening just less than one third of “breast cancers” are found in the non-invasive stage, DCIS (stage zero), and not every DCIS requires breast surgery for treatment. There is over treatment of many patients with DCIS.

However that means that over two thirds of breast cancer are invasive and require surgery. A cancer that is invasive will be removed at a smaller size by removing just the cancer and not the breast (lumpectomy instead of mastectomy). Yearly screening will reduce the number of patients who need mastectomy and who need chemotherapy to achieve a high cure rate.