The Reality That Women Have to Face Today
No one knows exactly how breast cancer is developed, or acquired. Some say its hereditary, but the truth is, we all have a cancer gene in our bodies waiting to be awaken. Activation is the key for a tumor to run in our bodies, so the key is to avoid its awakening, unfortunately, no one knows how to do that so the least any of us can hope to do is to just be cautious and be aware of the symptoms so that we can detect it early and therefore survive it without so much of the pain. For breast cancer, it is much more vital to be paranoid if a close relative has developed it, we recommend a mammogram annually. Also, women become more susceptible to breast cancer as they age, women who are 30 and above should go for check-ups. Menstrual cycle is also a factor, if your start and ended too early, you might want to look out for signs.
Most women who have breast cancer usually either undergo chemo or just have their breast removed. Chemo is a standard operating procedure but breast removal is not, see the thing about having the breast cut out is that it is not only horrifying, it is also not 100% effective. The cancer cell, if it has already worsened could have spread out to the entire body by then so that dismembering may not even do any good. There’s a new treatment offered, and it’s called hormone therapy. Through constant infusion of estrogen, the cancer cells are kept under check. Although this is not a cure for cancer, it is relatively preferable to other treatments.
Although it is highly unlikely that breast cancer can be measured by pain, there is a basis for it to be related to other breast disease. For instance, Paget’s disease is known to be related to breast cancer and the symptoms for this particular condition includes breast pains, abrupt weight loss, breast swelling and nipple discharge as well as itching and tingling of the breast tissue. It is recommended that the patient subject him or herself to a mammogram immediately if he or she is experiencing any of these symptoms because it was stated that this could very well be interconnected with breast cancer.
80% of breast cancers are detected by the person itself in the form of a lump on the breast. It is important to occasionally check for lumps on the mammary glands most especially if your family has a history of breast cancer. Next to personally feeling up the lump is through mammogram. Lumps on the armpit and around the collar bone can also indicate signs of breast cancer. Pain on the other hand, is not a reliable indication of breast cancer thought it should still pose alarm to the person because it could be caused by other serious breast issues.
Breast cancer is diagnosed through four categories: The first through pathology, the tumor is evaluated based on appearance among other things. The second is the grade of the tumor, a low grade tumor is no different in appearance to a normal tissue but a high grade tumor is relatively much more distinct in appearance. The next category is through protein and gene expression. This is where estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and new proteins are screened. This four categories helps determine the severity of the cancer which allows proper judgment on the kind of treatment to be imposed.
Article by Jon Caldwell
Jon Caldwell is a professional content manager. Much of his articles can be found at http://everythingaboutbreastcancer.com
