• Published on: Oct 02, 2021
  • 7 minute read
  • By: Second Medic Expert

Breast Cancer Prevention, Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment.

  • WhatsApp share link icon
  • copy & share link icon
  • twitter share link icon
  • facebook share link icon

What Is Breast Cancer?

Breast cancer is the most common disease found in women, and it strikes about 1 woman in 8.

Breast cancer generally doesn't show any symptoms and requires regular screenings to be caught at an early stage. There are four stages of breast cancer: Stage 1: Exam with no lumps but suspicious irregular cells growth; Stage 2: Single lump or growth; Stage 3: Multiple lumps or growths; Stage 4: Lymph node involvement.

Breast cancer is a common disease in a Western culture characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation of breast cells. The process may originate from the epithelium, connective tissue stroma, or both. Metastasis occurs in up to 30% of women with breast cancer and usually manifests 10 years after the initial diagnosis. Diagnosis can be made through mammography, palpation, ultra-sound imaging for cysts, unruptured growths examination under magnification (operative or non-operative) either directly or following an aspiration of fluid which can yield information on apparent composition and findings on microscopy (e.g., pH).  Breast cancer is the growth of abnormal cells in the tissue of your breast.

A large part of how breast cancers come to exist is through chronic changes to your "hormone balance". Many things cause you to have hormone imbalances, and unfortunately, it can be hard for doctors and nurses to figure out what caused you to develop breast cancer. Your breasts are made up of three types of cells: ductal cells which produce milk to feed your baby; glandular cells, which make the fluid (called "milk") that goes into and out through your nipples when you're breastfeeding; and fat cells. It takes all three types of breast cells in order to maintain healthy breast tissue. Normal, benign changes can occur over time in all these cell types.

More than 60 percent of breast cancers are linked to a mutation in a gene called BRCA1 or 2. The mutations vary by ethnicity and predict how likely a woman is to get breast cancer. For example, African American women have about a 9 percent chance if they have the BRCA2 mutation because it's the most common one in people from that ethnic group. In contrast, only 5% of Iranian women carry this type of mutation so it may not be as much a risk for them as for African Americans. Breast cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells within the breast tissue. A tumor can be small and harmless, or it may grow to an extremely large size before being discovered.

Cancerous tumors are not always visible on external examination, so they are often detected at more advanced stages by mammography or other imaging techniques if they have grown enough to compress adjacent structures, exhibit irregular margins, show microcalcifications on the exam, focus on the petechia pattern seen in Pleomorphic adenomas or miscellaneous cystic masses of any type. A lumpectomy involves removing just the cancerous part of your breast that needs surgery and then doing radiation therapy afterward.

Breast Cancer is cancer that begins in the tissues of the breast. It is also called "breast neoplasia" because it can arise from any part of the breast's normal development. In females, the most common type of breast cancer is "ductal carcinoma." It might seem strange to think that tumors have a different name depending on where they start out in your body, but about half of all cancers originate from sites other than our organs, and not all behave the same way.

Breast cancer is a type of cancer that affects cells in the breast. There are over 100 types of breast cancers and they all begin when new abnormal cells form within the breast tissue and can spread to other parts of the body. Breast cancer typically begins in either lobules or ducts, where hormone-producing glands produce milk for breastfeeding infants. Some people also get genetic mutations that make them more susceptible to developing a certain type of breast cancer, having a family history carrying that risk factor, or constantly being exposed to carcinogens in their environment."

Breast cancer is a type of tumor that starts in cells in or near the milk ducts of the breast, which are called mammary glands. Cancer starts when cells grow out of control and continue growing after normal cells would stop dividing. There are different types of breast cancer, based on how fast they grow and spread, as well as whether they can be cured by surgery alone. Breast cancers can be treated with chemotherapy drugs  An abnormal breast fluid or nipple discharge, a lump in the breast, a red spot on the skin of the breast.

The main risk factors for breast cancer are age and sex (with a much smaller risk from diet) - women who have their first child after 30 years old have a higher chance of developing type 2 diabetes, which is linked to an increased risk of hormone dependent cancers such as breast cancer. Talking about your symptoms with your doctor can help rule out other possible causes too - heavy periods or reduced menopause symptoms would warrant different treatments.

Symptoms and causes of breast cancer

Breast pain and sensitivity to the touch, a lump or thickening in one or both breasts that can be felt during a breast exam, nipple discharge other than breast milk, bloody show with staining of underwear, skin irritation around the nipples due to rubbing against clothing.  Causes: There are many causes. Risk factors include high levels of estrogen such as those associated with hormone replacement therapy; obesity; family history; past infections like viral hepatitis and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection.(Note these two latter ones also cause cervical cancer.)

Breast cancer is the abnormal growth of cells that take up space in the breast tissue. The most common symptom is a noticeable lump in one or both breasts, which you can feel through your skin. Three primary risk factors for developing breast cancer include age, gender, and family history. The median age when women are diagnosed with invasive (the most common type) breast cancers is 60-67 years old; however, women diagnosed with it at an earlier age also can have risk factors such as early-onset puberty and late menopause due to lack of breastfeeding.

At any given time, the majority of breast cells are in a dormant state – actually, these cells have apoptosis-storming potential – meaning they're at the edge of self-destruction. When you need to destroy a cell due to an error or damage, a small percentage commit suicide through a process called apoptosis. Apoptotic cells then release harmful enzymes that start breaking down their own DNA until finally, cellular contents spill out into surrounding tissue. One of the most common symptoms of breast cancer is a lump. The remaining information should be listed separately as an answer to the following question: How to know if you have Breast Cancer?

Breast cancer symptoms are very variable with no one symptom being universal. Signs of breast cancer may include chest pain, nipple discharge, skin irritation or rash around the breast, persistent itching or tenderness in the breast area, or changes in size or shape of one or both breasts. The cause of most cases of breast cancer is unknown with most coming from natural cell division errors in DNA. Some younger women have what is called hormone-driven cancers caused by excessive levels of hormones, particularly estrogen and progesterone which stimulate cell division among other things.  Breast cancer symptoms, on the other hand, may include a lump that you can feel or see in your breast or pain in one of your breasts that doesn’t go away. These lumps may be fluid-filled cysts (usually non-cancerous) but some women with hormonal changes due to giving birth a few months before, will develop benign cysts.

There are many risk factors for breast cancer including age and genetics. A low-fat diet also decreases breast cancer risk by lowering levels of the female hormone estradiol. Breast cancer is a type of malignant tumor that occurs in the cells of the breast tissue. When left untreated, it can quickly grow, spreading to nearby tissues and organs, which leads to death. Symptoms of breast cancer can be very similar among different people depending on the severity, but some common symptoms are redness or swelling near the nipple areas, breasts pains especially before periods or after menopause have passed, one breast feels different than the other one due to size changes or skin texture changes. Medical experts recommend scheduling regular check-ups starting at age 20 for full-term women with no family history of any type.

Breast cancer has many causes including genetic mutations in our DNA’s controlling growth genes

Treatments for breast cancer depend on a number of factors including age, stage in progression, and other medical issues. There are many options available from surgery to natural therapies. One option is radiation therapy which is used when the tumor cannot be removed by surgery. Radiation therapy removes or destroys cells in or near the site of cancerous tissue with beams of high-energy x-rays or particles called 'electrons. In this case, it would be important not to eat anything containing sugars within four hours before treatment because sugar can rush to the stomach without being chewed and hold up the radiation passing through it into your body tissues."

Chemotherapy is a systemic cancer treatment that uses drugs to stop the growth of fast-growing cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. In other words, it kills both tumor and non-tumor cells in the hope that it will kill enough solid tumor cells to make a difference. The potential side effects depend on your age, weight, gender, and medical history - but may include hair loss; nausea; fatigue; mouth soreness through dry mouth or inflammation of tongue or throat (your doctor can give you medications to help); diarrhea; constipation; muscle weakness. Greater doses may cause lung problems such as inflammation of tiny airways within your lungs which restricts breathing and can damage your lungs over time.

It starts with treatment to manage pain, including drugs and other methods such as acupuncture. Radiation therapy is often used to shrink the tumor and reduce its spread – it works by weakening cancer cells so they can't grow or reproduce as fast. Chemotherapy is a powerful anticancer drug that can be injected into a vein or taken by mouth and travels throughout the bloodstream so it reaches cancer cells wherever they may be in the body. There are different types of chemotherapy for breast cancer treatment depending on certain factors such as prognosis and whether doctors think that cancer will return after surgery.

Radiation therapy uses radiation to kill all heat-resistant cell types in the surrounding tissue including cancer cells. Chemotherapy is short for cancer treatment with chemotherapy drugs.

Radiation therapy and chemotherapy are used to treat cancer, specifically breast cancer. Cancers may have low blood circulation, so they are more difficult to get "full" doses of irradiation or chemo on them using conventional methods. This requires using sophisticated equipment that can administer doses of drugs only at the tumor site while minimizing exposure of healthy circulating tissue to these potential toxin agents.

Radiation therapy or radiation to shrink the tumor sometimes before surgery. Chemotherapy, which often includes hormones to reduce the size of the tumor. Treatments might include hormone therapy, chemoembolization, other medications, and other treatments depending on what is found by other tests. Finally, if chemotherapy doesn't work are other options are available for treatment. The three most common are Herceptin (targets HER2 receptor only), Trastuzumab (targets HER2 receptor), and Lapatinib/Tykerb (targets two signaling proteins called CDK4 and PDGFR).

See all

Live Doctor consultation
Live Doctor Chat

call icon for mobile number calling and whatsapp at secondmedic