Breast Cancer

1. Breast Cancer By Alexa Efthimiadis

2. Things You Wouldn’t Know About Breast Cancer   ~The older a woman, the more likely she is to get breast cancer ~Young women can get breast cancer, even in their 20s ~White women are more likely to get breast cancer than women of any other racial or ethnic group ~African American women are more likely to die from breast cancer than white women ~Men can get breast cancer ~Out of every one hundred cases of breastcancer, one will occur in a man.        

3. Prevention          However, there are steps that you can take that may reduce your risk. These include maintaining a healthy weight, adding exercise into your routine, limiting alcohol intake and postmenopausal hormones, and breastfeeding if you can. For women at higher risk, taking tamoxifen or raloxifene may reduce the risk of estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer.  The causes of breast cancer are not fully understood. Although it is clear that age, gender and lifetime exposure to estrogen and other factors play an important role. Because no one knows exactly what causes breast cancer to develop in a certain person at a certain time, there are no sure ways to prevent it. Getting regular screening tests is the best way to lower your risk of dying from breast cancer. Screening tests can find breast cancer early, when it's most treatable.

4. Growth of Breast Cancer To grow, malignant breast tumors need to be fed. They get nourishment by developing new blood vessels in a process called angiogenesis. The new blood vessels supply the tumor with nutrients that promote growth. As the malignant breast tumor grows, it can expand into nearby tissue. This process is called invasion.     Cells can also break away from the primary, or main tumor and spread to other parts of the body. The cells spread by traveling through the blood stream and/or lymphatic system. This process is called metastasis.       

5.    Risk Factors    • being a woman • getting older • having an inherited mutation in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 breast cancer gene • lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) • a personal history of breast or ovarian cancer • a family history of breast, ovarian or prostate cancer • having high breast density on a mammogram • having a previous biopsy showing atypical hyperplasia • starting menopause after age 55 • never having children • having your first child after age 35 • radiation exposure, frequent X-rays in youth • high bone density • being overweight after menopause or gaining weight as an adult • postmenopausal hormone use (current or recent use) of estrogen or estrogen plus progestin          

6. Detection       Breast cancer can begin in different areas of the breast – the ducts, the lobules, or in some cases, the tissue in between. Breast cancer is often first suspected when a lump or change in the breast is found or when an abnormal area is seen on a mammogram. Most of the time, these findings do not turn out to be cancer. However, the only way to know for sure is through follow-up tests. Over the past 20 years, great progress has been made in the early detection and treatment of breast cancer. As a result, the number of breast cancer survivors continues to rise. In fact, there are over 2.9 million survivors in the United States today (more than any other group of cancer survivors).   

7. Various Treatment Types  Mastectomy versus lumpectomy (breast conserving surgery) plus radiation and overall survival in early breast cancer  Different adjuvant chemotherapy combinations and overall survival in early breast cancer   Radiation therapy following mastectomy and overall survival in stage II & III breast cancer  Tamoxifen and overall survival in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer Neoadjuvant (preoperative) hormone therapy for women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer Adjuvant chemotherapy and overall survival Lumpectomy plus radiation therapy in the treatment of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) High-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplant for women with metastatic breast cancer and for women with non-metastatic breast cancer at high risk for recurrence   Aromatase inhibitors and disease-free survival in early breast cancer    

8. October 2012 marks the 28th anniversary of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time to not only reflect on those who have lost their battle to the disease, but also to encourage its prevention. Thank You! We Support All Breast Cancer Awareness