An Overview Of Breast Cancer

Many women consider their breasts to be their defining feature and cancer is one of the most dreaded diseases of the world. As the name signifies, cancer of the breast, or breast cancer, is a type of cancer. It is predominantly a female disease and it is one of the most common forms of cancer. In the United States alone, approximately 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, though the figure is somewhat lower in countries like Canada and Australia. It is also a major cause of cancer deaths in women. The majority of patients are women who have crossed the menopause stage. Birth control pills also increase the chances of its occurrence as do treatments like HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy). Being overweight and the excessive consumption of alcohol also contribute significantly to it. The occurrence of breast cancer in family members can increase the chances as there is a gene which can be inherited.

What is Breast Cancer? Simply put, cancer of the tissues in breast is called breast cancer. It usually surfaces in the form of a lump or tumor in and around the breast. Every lump found in the breasts is not necessarily an indicator of breast cancer; sometimes it may not be associated with breast cancer at all. It is normal for lumps to be formed, especially during the growing up stage. They can also be formed as a result of hormonal changes and they are usually temporary.

Symptoms of Breast Cancer

It is not possible to detect this disease in the starting stages. The symptoms start appearing slowly and slowly as the disease progresses. They could be anything like:

. A lump or swelling in the breast or adjoining area like the underarm.
. Increase or decrease in the shape or size of the breasts.
. Dimpling or change in the color of the skin
. Discharge from the nipples.

Factors that increase the risk of Breast Cancer

. Contraceptives.
. Hormone therapy.
. Overweight.
. Alcohol.
. Age factor.
. Genes.
. Dairy products.

How To Detect Breast Cancer

Early detection of breast cancer is vital to cure the disease. The sooner it is detected, the better. The chances of curing it are more if detected in the early stages. It is very difficult to cure it in the advanced stages. There are many ways to find out if you are suffering from breast cancer. A few of them are:

. Medical examination of breasts and armpits by a doctor, at least once in a year.
. Mammogram, especially if you are above 40 years of age.
. Ultrasound, can be done separately or combined with other tests.
. BSE (Breast Self-Examination).
. Biopsy.

Types of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer occurs broadly in two places, lobules or the milk ducts. They are:

. Invasive lobular carcinoma - Cancer originated in the lobules, but has now spread.
. Invasive ductal carcinoma - Cancer, which originated in the milk ducts but has spread.
. Lobular carcinoma in situ - Cancer in the lobules.
. Ductal carcinoma in situ - Cancer in the milk ducts.

Treatments available for Breast Cancer

There are various options available for its treatment. Some of them are:

. Surgery.
. Radiation Therapy.
. Chemotherapy.
. Hormone Treatment.

Prevention of Breast Cancer

The most important aspect of this dangerous and fatal disease is prevention. The various treatment options are costly and damaging to the body. The old saying prevention is better than cure is aptly applicable to this disease. Prevention of breast cancer is more important than its cure. Routine medical examinations and immediate medical advice in case of suspected symptoms can greatly reduce the chances of breast cancer spreading.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer - Recurrence

One of the issues that every breast cancer survivor must deal with is the possibility of the cancer coming back. We call this a recurrence and even though rates of breast cancer recurrence are lower and survival rates much higher, there is still that chance that the breast cancer will come back after the initial occurrence and treatment. There are three ways in which breast cancer can recur.

The first type of recurrence is called a local recurrence. when cancer recurs locally, it will come back in the original breast area. This is because of a failure of the original treatment. Even when there is a mastectomy, a local recurrence can happen because it is impossible remove all the breast tissue, skin and fat from the area. If even one cancer cell remains after the initial treatment, a local recurrence can happen.

The second type of recurrence is regional in nature. By regional we mean that the cancer has come back outside of the original breast and lymph node area. This is considered to be more serious than a local recurrence, but not as serious as a distant recurrence. The areas in which regional spread of the disease occur include the chest muscles (pectoral), the lymph nodes surrounding the neck area, the internal breast lymph nodes in the breast bone and rib areas and in the lymph nodes above the collarbone. This type of recurrence is rare.

The third and most serious type of recurrence is called a distant recurrence. This is also referred to as a metastasis. The areas where distant spread can occur are most likely to occur are bone (25%), liver, brain, bone marrow, lungs or other organs. Sometimes this is referred to as metastatic disease or Stage IV breast cancer. The survival rate becomes much lower once metastasis occurs, with a life expectancy of 18 months on the average after discovering it.

Symptoms of metastatic breast cancer may include bone pain, shortness of breath, lack of appetite, weight loss (possible indication of liver metastases, neurological pain or weakness and headaches.

If you are a breast cancer survivor, you should be aware of the symptoms of metastatic spread. These symptoms can include bone pain (bone), weight loss (liver), loss of appetite (liver), headaches (brain), neurological pain or weakness (brain/spine) and shortness of breath (lungs). However, keep in mind that having one or more of these symptoms does not mean you should panic. A good rule of thumb is the "three week rule". If you have a pain or other symptom that lasts more than three week, see your doctor. If you have an unrelenting pain or constant pain, see a doctor. Cancer pain does not go away compared other types of pain which will come and go. Like back pain caused by muscle spasms and/or non-cancer related disc problem.

If you suspect you have a recurrence of breast cancer, see your doctor. They will schedule some diagnostic tests like a CAT scan, bone scan, or MRI to try to find the root of your symptoms. Usually surgery is not a treatment option, but there are many other treatments, like radiation and/or chemotherapy that could possibly put a recurring cancer back into remission. There are amazing advances in treatment being made all the time.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer Recurrence

Anxiety feelings after breast cancer treatment are common and occur partly because the end has come to the frequent visits with your doctors, which can serve to comfort - giving you the tangible notion that someone is watching over you and your health. However, you may be struggling with the fear of recurrence that many women experience after their treatments. Remember that during the treatment planning process, you want to develop a plan to optimize your chance of cure and to carry out that plan. When, this is done, it is time for you to go on with your life. For some women, this means putting the whole process behind them, not even allowing the experience to enter their thoughts, but, for most women, life can't ever be the same again. These women feel that they must do something to give cancer meaning in their overall life experience - such as becoming an advocate for other women who may be suffering. Breast cancer enables many changes to take place in your life, whether they come in the form of helping a new friend or whatever other activity may create that meaning or sense of purpose for you.

Once a woman has breast cancer, most often, there is an underlying fear of cancer recurrence. Unfortunately, some women have recurrences, even after they have done everything they are supposed to do to prevent this. Tremendous controversy lies in regard to how much and what kind of surveillance is necessary after breast cancer therapy. How one should be followed up for recurrence and by whom should be given some thought. Since you are most likely being treated by several medical personnel, once your treatment is complete, you should discuss with your team who is the leader and who will offer future tests for you.

At the very least, you should be examined by a physician, usually the same examiner, every six months or so. If breast surgery with radiation, or lumpectomy alone, has been your form of treatment, you should undergo mammography approximately six months after completion of radiotherapy or surgery. This will serve as a new baseline that future tests can be measured against. Mammography should then be repeated annually. If you have had a mastectomy with or without breast reconstruction surgery, the tissue just beneath the skin and armpit are the areas of possible recurrence and a physical examination is all that is necessary for follow up in your case. Although uncommon, it is essential to diagnose local recurrence as soon as possible.

Controversy also exists about how much testing is necessary to look for a systemic relapse. If you are on protocols testing new drug regimes, there is a set of schedules for doing blood analysis, chest x-rays and bone scans. Bone scans, computed tomography scans and magnetic resonance imaging as routine follow up are not recommended for three reasons: these tests are quite expensive; they expose you to radiation; and studies show that finding a systemic recurrence a few months early, as these test allow, does not affect further treatment or response.

Once you have breast cancer, you join a huge group of women, well over 2 million strong, who are cancer survivors. Your life will have changed in many ways forever. How you cope with being a survivor and dealing with the fear of recurrence head-on will largely influence the quality of the rest of your life.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer - Reconstruction

One of the treatment options with breast cancer is a mastectomy, or removal of the breast. Depending on risk factors and genetic issues, some women have both breasts removed. Reconstruction is the rebuilding of one or both breasts. Reconstruction cannot completely replace a lost breast, but some women decide to have it done either at the time of the mastectomy, which is immediate reconstruction or at a later date, known as delayed reconstruction. It is a very personal decision that is usually based on how the patient feels about their body and breasts. Some women chose to have no reconstruction and use what is called a breast form.

One type of reconstruction makes use of synthetic implants. They can be either silicone filled or saline filled. Sometimes a temporary expander will be used if the implant is too large to insert under the skin and muscle of the chest wall. When an expander is used, it is injected every few weeks with a small amount of saline to gently stretch the skin and muscle to the size of the implant, at which time the actual implant will be inserted. This usually takes three to six months.

The other type of reconstruction makes use of the patient's own tissue. The tissue is transfered from another part of the body and consists of skin, muscle and fat - a myo-cutaneous flap, or just a flap. This is a fairly extensive procedure and not without a degree of risk. It is painful, both where the tissue is taken from and at the breast area, but it also provides the most natural looking results. The three different types of flap are the TRAM flap, which uses the abdominal muscles, the LAT flap, which uses the muscle from the upper back, and a Free Flap, which can be from the abdominal area or buttocks.

The TRAM flap involves cutting into the abs. The muscle, fat and skin are removed and pulled up to the breast area. The blood vessels are kept intact during the procedure. The flap is shaped into the form of the breast. Usually a good match to the other breast can be made and no implant is required in addition to the flap. The patient receives a tummy tuck as part of the deal, but runs the risk of developing a hernia from where the flap was removed.

A LAT flap follows the same procedure, using the latissimus dorsi muscle instead. The flap is pulled through a temporary tunnel, which is created under the skin from the back to the breast area. Because of the smaller size of the flap, an implant is usually added to make the breast larger.

The Free flap is the most technical of the three and involved the disruption of the blood supply to the flap during surgery. For this reason, you must have a surgeon that is skilled in microsurgery.

Another part of the reconstruction process involves nipple and areola recreation. In this procedure, a piece of skin is removed from another part of the body, the abdomen, leg or breast itself and shaped into a nipple. After it has healed, an areola is tattooed around the reconstructed nipple.

The reconstruction decision is a very personal one and since it involves surgery times of up to 4-5 hours under anesthesia, it's not one to be taken lightly.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer Prevention and The American Cancer Industry

I am angry because The United States has yet to pass breast cancer prevention laws.

Unlike the European Union, which passed a cosmetics safety law in 2005, and a chemical safety law in 2006, the U.S. Government continues to allow known and potentially carcinogenic ingredients to be added to our food supply, our air and water, our cosmetics, our body care products, our dry cleaning process, and our home and garden supplies.

As a result of the European Union’s Safe Cosmetics Act, most of the shampoos, body lotions, hair dyes and lipsticks now in our American bathrooms, are considered unsafe and banned from sale in Europe. Imported non-organic meat and dairy products from the US are also banned. This is because most meat and dairy now sold in US supermarkets, contain added animal growth hormones, which research shows contribute to breast and other type of cancers.

Meanwhile, U.S., breast cancer rates are the highest in the world. In the 1950’s, only 1 in 20 American women could expect a breast diagnosis in her lifetime. Today, in some EU countries, that number is one out of 15, in Great Britain it is 1 out of 9 and in the U.S. it is now 1 out of 7.

The European Union’s government believes it has the responsibility and the ability to protect its citizens from this breast cancer epidemic that has gained momentum in both the US and Europe for the past fifty years. So why hasn’t the US passed similar prevention laws?

“It’s the cancer economy stupid.”... to paraphrase a well-known political truism.

Environmental and nutritional science, along with medical research, is now showing us that 90% of breast cancer is preventable. This is not good news for companies within the American Cancer Industry; such business entities do not promote prevention as they must always find ways to increase surgery numbers, drug sales and radiation procedures to meet their quarterly profit goals.

Neither the US corporate media, nor our politicians have yet to talk about this huge disconnect between the industry’s need for more cancer patients and our growing international body of scientific research that understands how to stop breast cancer before it starts. The result? American women are now living with an unnecessary breast cancer epidemic.

Maybe it’s time to haul in the pink ribbons and raise some red flags.

Susan Wadia-Ells is the director of The Women, Weight and Breast Cancer Project or WWBC. This national organization offers free workshops to women's community, religious and business groups around the country, educating women about personal and public ways we can each prevent breast cancer. The project also offers women support in losing extra body fat, in order to lower one's breast cancer risk. The project's growing group of paid workshop leaders hopes to offer workshops in all fifty states by the end of 2007.

To learn more about the project, to schedule a free workshop for your group or for information on how to earn income as a WWBC workshop leader, visit the project at http://www.womenwbc.org