What is Breast Cancer?

Breast cancer is a cancer that starts in the tissues of the breast.

There are two main types of breast cancer:

Ductal carcinoma starts in the tubes (ducts) that move milk from the breast to the nipple. Most breast cancers are of this type.

Lobular carcinoma starts in parts of the breast, called lobules, that produce milk.

In rare cases, breast cancer can start in other areas of the breast.

Many breast cancers are sensitive to the hormone estrogen. This means that estrogen causes the breast cancer tumor to grow. Such cancer is called estrogen receptor positive cancer or ER positive cancer.

Some women have what is called HER2-positive breast cancer. HER2 refers to a gene that helps cells grow, divide, and repair themselves. When cells have too many copies of this gene, cells, including cancer cells, grow faster. Experts think that women with HER2-positive breast cancer have a more aggressive disease and a higher risk of recurrence than those who do not have this type.

Symptoms

Early breast cancer usually does not cause symptoms. This is why regular breast exams are important. As the cancer grows, symptoms may include:

1) Breast lump or lump in the armpit that is hard, has uneven edges, and usually does not hurt
2) Change in the size, shape, or feel of the breast or nipple, for example, you may have redness, dimpling, or puckering that looks like the skin of an orange
3) Fluid coming from the nipple, may be bloody, clear to yellow, green, and look like pus

Men get breast cancer, too. Symptoms include breast lump and breast pain and tenderness.

Symptoms of advanced breast cancer may include:

1) Bone pain
2) Breast pain or discomfort
3) Skin ulcers
4) Swelling of one arm (next to breast with cancer)
5) Weight loss

Causes

Over the course of a lifetime, 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Risk factors you cannot change include:

1) Age and gender. Your risk of developing breast cancer increases as you get older. The majority of advanced breast cancer cases are found in women over age 50. Women are 100 times more likely to get breast cancer then men.

2) Family history of breast cancer. You may also have a higher risk for breast cancer if you have a close relative who has had breast, uterine, ovarian, or colon cancer. About 20 - 30% of women with breast cancer have a family history of the disease.

3) Genes. Some people have genes that make them more prone to developing breast cancer. The most common gene defects are found in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. These genes normally produce proteins that protect you from cancer. But if a parent passes you a defective gene, you have an increased risk for breast cancer. Women with one of these defects have up to an 80% chance of getting breast cancer sometime during their life.

4) Menstrual cycle. Women who get their periods early (before age 12) or went through menopause late (after age 55) have an increased risk for breast cancer.

Other risk factors include:

1) Alcohol use. Drinking more than 1 or 2 glasses of alcohol a day may increase your risk for breast cancer.

2) Childbirth. Women who have never had children or who had them only after age 30 have an increased risk for breast cancer. Being pregnant more than once or becoming pregnant at an early age reduces your risk of breast cancer.

3) DES. Women who took diethylstilbestrol (DES) to prevent miscarriage may have an increased risk of breast cancer after age 40. This drug was given to the women in the 1940s to the 1960s.

4) Hormone replacement therapy (HRT). You have a higher risk for breast cancer if you have received hormone replacement therapy for several years or more. Many women take HRT to reduce the symptoms of menopause.

5) Obesity. Obesity has been linked to breast cancer, although this link is controversial. The theory is that obese women produce more estrogen, which can fuel the development of breast cancer.

6) Radiation. If you received radiation therapy as a child or young adult to treat cancer of the chest area, you have a significantly higher risk for developing breast cancer. The younger you started such radiation, the higher your risk -- especially if the radiation was given when a female was developing breasts.

Breast implants, using antiperspirants, and wearing underwire bras do not raise your risk for breast cancer. There is no evidence of a direct link between breast cancer and pesticides.

Western Medicine Treatment

Treatment is based on many factors, including type and stage of the cancer, whether the cancer is sensitive to certain hormones, and whether or not the cancer overproduces (overexpresses) a gene called HER2/neu.

In general, cancer treatments may include:

1) Chemotherapy medicines to kill cancer cells
2) Radiation therapy to destroy cancerous tissue
3) Surgery to remove cancerous tissue, a lumpectomy removes the breast lump; mastectomy removes all or part of the breast and possible nearby structures

Other treatments:

Hormonal therapy to block certain hormones that fuel cancer growth

Targeted therapy to interfere with cancer cell growth and function

An example of hormonal therapy is the drug tamoxifen. This drug blocks the effects of estrogen, which can help breast cancer cells survive and grow. Most women with estrogen-sensitive breast cancer benefit from this drug. A newer class of medicines called aromatase inhibitors, such as exemestane (Aromasin), have been shown to work just as well or even better than tamoxifen in postmenopausal women with breast cancer.

Targeted therapy, also called biologic therapy, is a newer type of cancer treatment. This therapy uses special anticancer drugs that identify certain changes in a cell that can lead to cancer. One such drug is trastuzumab (Herceptin). For women with stage IV HER2-positive breast cancer, Herceptin plus chemotherapy has been shown to be work better than chemotherapy alone. Studies have also shown that in women with early stage HER2-positive breast cancer, this medicine plus chemotherapy cuts the risk of the cancer coming back by 50%.

Cancer treatment may be local or systemic.

Local treatments involve only the area of disease. Radiation and surgery are forms of local treatment.

Systemic treatments affect the entire body. Chemotherapy is a type of systemic treatment.

Most women receive a combination of treatments. For women with stage I, II, or III breast cancer, the main goal is to treat the cancer and prevent it from returning. For women with stage IV cancer, the goal is to improve symptoms and help them live longer. In most cases, stage IV breast cancer cannot be cured.

Stage 0 and DCIS. Lumpectomy plus radiation or mastectomy is the standard treatment. There is some controversy on how best to treat DCIS.

Stage I and II. Lumpectomy plus radiation or mastectomy with some sort of lymph node removal is standard treatment. Hormone therapy, chemotherapy, and biologic therapy may also be recommended following surgery.

Stage III. Treatment involves surgery possibly followed by chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and biologic therapy.

Stage IV. Treatment may involve surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, or a combination of such treatments.

After treatment, some women will continue to take medications such as tamoxifen for a period of time. All women will continue to have blood tests, mammograms, and other tests following treatment.

Adopted From health.yahoo.net