Brca Mutation Essay

Situation: The client is a 50-year-old female teacher who was notified of an abnormal screening mammogram. Diagnosis of infiltrating ductal carcinoma was made following a stereotactic needle biopsy of a 1.5 x 1.5 cm lobulated mass at the 3:00 position in her left breast. The client had a modified radical mastectomy with lymph node dissection. The sentinel lymph node and 11 of 16 lymph nodes were positive for tumor. Estrogen receptors and progesterone receptors were both positive. Further staging work-up was negative for distant metastasis. Her final staging was stage IIB. Her prescribed chemotherapy regimen is 6 cycles of CAF after a single-lumen central line was placed.

Mastectomy (surgical breast removal) leaves the patient with feelings of tightness and discomfort made worse by the removal of lymph nodes. The arms usually swell (lymphedema) and there is the risk of infection and a great deal of fluid retention (seroma) around the site of the surgery.

Depending on the time of diagnosis and the particular stage at which the cancer is present in the body, treatment options range from a mastectomy, chemotherapy, or surgery (Haas, 2008). A mastectomy is the surgical removal of the breast, it is an approach often taken to halt the spread of cancer cells to other parts of the body. Chemotherapy is an alternative to a treating the cancer. Chemotherapy for breast cancer is a systemic treatment, which affects most of the cells in your body. Most often chemotherapy is classified as the therapeutic use of chemicals to treat or control a particular disease. Potent drugs are used to kill or hinder the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells by interrupting their DNA, protein production, preventing cell division, starving them of their nutrients or blocking hormone receptors (Stephan, 2010).

When first considering cancer treatment plans, it helps to understand your general options. Types of cancer treatment can be categorized into four modalities: Medical, surgical, radiation, and chemotherapy. Examples of medical options include chemical medicines, immunotherapy, and biological/endocrine therapy. Many surgical options can be minimally invasive and utilize modern technologies to better suit the patient's personalized treatment plan. While you may have heard of radiation and chemotherapy, you may not realize the recent advancements that improve these therapies, creating healthy, successful outcomes every day.

This paper aims to provide the gaps in our understanding of breast cancer by examining the functions and to enhance our ability to distinguish the anatomy of female human breast. The author also attempts a better understanding of some of the different types of human breast cancer namely: ductal carcinoma in situ, lobular carcinoma in situ, invasive ductal carcinoma and invasive lobular carcinoma. It is hoped that this paper will inform those who do not have the understanding and knowledge about the risk factors, diagnosis, treatments and preventions of the breast cancer.

There are many treatments of breast cancer, the seriousness and the type of cancer will result in what type of treatment is chemotherapy. Chemotherapy is given to advanced stage of breast cancer. And it is a nurse role to educate the women receiving chemotherapy about the names of drugs and they are administered and their side effects.

High-risk families include those whose members carry a mutation in the BRCA2 gene. The mutated BRCA2 gene is inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. A child needs to inherit just one copy of the mutated gene to have an increased cancer risk. Children who have a parent with a BRCA2

The field of breast cancer treatment is in continual flux, and to keep “abreast” (pardon the pun) of the latest updates, consider attending our educational evening seminars, where local care providers offer the most up-to-date information. And read all you can; breast cancer is often in the news. As a way to filter the truth from hype in mass media, I highly recommend

One dependable source states, “Lumpectomy or partial mastectomy (also called breast-conserving surgery) followed by radiation therapy is generally considered to be as good as mastectomy for women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer with an average risk of the cancer coming back (recurrence). Earlier research has shown that recurrence risk was about the same with either treatment” ("Removing”). There are multiple options that can be chosen to attempt to eliminate cancer that have been proven to have been effective in many cases.

II. A) Cdc.gov (2012) indicates, breast cancer is treated in several ways. It is depended on the kind of cancer and how far along it has spread. Treatment included surgery, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, biological therapy and radiation.

BRCA1 and 2 are tumor suppressor genes. Both BRCA proteins are used in cellular processes such as DNA repair, regulation of transcription, and maintenance of the genome. Some genes they regulate are vital to cell growth, repair, and death.

This is why BRCA-positive people have a higher risk for cancers. It also explains why they get them earlier in life. They were born already having one mutated BRCA allele ready to fuel cancer cells.

Breast cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in American women and around 12 percent of women will develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetime.1 Patients have the choice of 5 different types of mastectomy: total mastectomy with removal of breast tissue without lymph node removal, modified radical mastectomy where the entire breast and axillary lymph nodes are removed, radical mastectomy where entire breast and chest muscles are removed, partial mastectomy frequently referred to as breast conservative surgery where only cancerous tissue is removed, or subcutaneous mastectomy where breast tissue is removed with conservation of the nipple and areola.2 The standard of care in the United States for women who have had mastectomy secondary to breast cancer is to receive a breast reconstruction.2 On top of a common but devastating diagnosis of breast cancer with fears of facing months of chemotherapy and radiation, most women also make the decision to beat the cancer with a mastectomy and reconstruction.

Breast cancer has been acknowledged for centuries, with records dating as far back as the ancient Egyptians, over 3500 years ago (1). However diagnosis, research and progress throughout history have been slow due to it being a matter of taboo and humiliation. In 1957 the idea of surgically removing the tumours was suggested by Henri Le Dran, introducing mastectomy to the 20th century; the first scientific step in acting against cancer. Radical mastectomy lengthened survival, however was often declined due to the disfigurement left behind. To overcome this, Bernard Fisher published results from ‘breast conserving’ surgery accompanied by radiation or chemotherapy, which were ‘just as effective’ as a radical mastectomy (1).

According to the American Cancer Society, Each year, more than 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer; furthermore Twelve percent of all women will contract the disease, and 3.5% of them will die from breast cancer (American Cancer Society, 2005). There are risk factors that may lead to breast cancer. There are 4 stages of breast cancer and several treatments, although treatments vary from types and stages of breast cancer. Breast cancer is the leading cause of death among women who are 40 to 55 years old (Breast Cancer, 2009).Cancer occurs when cells divide uncontrollably. It changes from a normal cell to cancerous cells that require gene alterations. Therefore the altered genes and the uncontrolled growth may lead to tumors.