Breast Cancer; Saving the Girls

Mammograms are breast cancer screenings and are of great importance since they detect if indeed a malignant tumor is present and if so what stage it is in (Stephan, 2010). Cancers can be detected at stages I, II, or IIA (Haas et al., 2008).

There are no symptoms at the early stages of breast cancer which makes early detection even more difficult. When tumors become large there is an obvious breast mass which is mostly not painful. Symptoms of breast cancer include breast thickening, skin irritation, tenderness, swelling, breast scales, distortion, redness tenderness, nipple retraction and ulceration, There may also be abnormal discharge.

According to the United States Breast Cancer Statistics (2016), in 2016 there will be an estimated 246,660 newly diagnosed cases of invasive breast cancer and 61,000 of non-invasive breast cancer among women. For this reason, when studying breast cancer based on a large-scale impact, it not only affects the patient themselves but, as well as their families and communities nationwide. Furthermore, many contributing factors lead to this being such a public health issue. Conclusively, there are specific programs, services, and policies that help to assist the contributing factors of such a public health threat. Nevertheless, breast cancer is still an increasing concern in society, and much-needed research is required to be able to detect and treat this disease.

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.

Breast cancer constitutes the second most prevalent cancer most common among women of the world with an estimated 1.62 million reported cases in 2012 which constitutes 25% of all cancer cases and ranks fifth among mortality due to cancer (Ferlay et al., 2015). In the United States, according to American Cancer Society an

Breast cancer is not just a single disease. It may come in different types. One particular type and the most common is the invasive ductal carcinoma or the infiltrating ductal carcinoma. This is cancer that invades the surrounding breast tissues as it breaks through walls of the milk duct. Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is another type of cancer. This is non-invasive, meaning it does not spread to the surrounding breast tissues. Another type is the triple negative breast cancer. This happens when estrogen, progesterone, and HER-2, which fuel cancer growth, are not present in the tumor. This also means that hormone therapy and drugs are ineffective for this type, but chemotherapy may an effective option. Inflammatory breast cancer is a fast-growing type that caused to penetrate the skin and lymph vessels. For metastatic breast cancer, cancer basically spreads to other body parts including the lungs, bones, brain, or liver. This is also classified as Stage 4 breast cancer. The above mention cancer types are the commonly seen cancer cases. However, there are other types which are not commonly seen such as the medullary carcinoma accounting for 3-5% of cancer types, tubular carcinoma making up about 2% of diagnosis, and mucinous carcinoma representing 1% or 2% of all cancer types (National Breast Cancer Foundation Inc., 2016).

Breast Cancer affects one in eight of American women, and is the second most common cause of cancer death in America. I chose to write my term paper on breast cancer because it is a disease that has effected some members of my family. Due to this possibly inherited condition, I felt that researching the topic would help me learn ways to prevent the disease and educate myself to perform self-exams that may result in early detection.

Breast cancer has no obvious symptoms at all until tumors are formed. Just as no two people are exactly alike no two-breast cancers are exactly the same either. Webmd.com (2013) explains, when a tumor develops signs of early stages of breast cancer includes:

Detection of breast cancer can be made at an early stage through screening. Screening refers to the various tests and examinations that are carried out on the breasts of a person to detect the disease at the earliest, even before the actual symptoms of the disease starts to show. Usually breast cancers that can be felt and detected are cancers that have grown larger in size and that which in usual cases has spread to regions outside the breast. The treatment in such cases is very complex. Breast cancers can be treated successfully if it is detected very early, and before the actual cancer symptoms starts to show.

Metastatic breast cancer can spread in a variety of different ways, the first being invasion of healthy cells by cancer cells. Once the healthy cell has been taken over it can begin to reproduce more abnormal cells, which is why cancer cells grow so uncontrollably. Some other ways the cancer spreads incudes’, lodging into capillaries, penetrating the lymph system, migration through circulation, or just

Breast cancer develops from the breast tissue. It occurs when abnormal cells in the breast divide uncontrollably and form tumours. The tumours are either a lump or a thickening of body tissue. According to cancer research UK, in 2012, there was 50,750 new cases of breast cancer in women and 353 new cases of breast cancer in men, in the UK. There was also 11,716 deaths from breast cancer. (http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/cancer-statistics/statistics-by-cancer-type/breast-cancer/incidence-invasive#heading-Zero) 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer within their lifetime and is the second highest cause of death from cancer in women in the UK.

In women worldwide, more than 1 million women were diagnosed in 2012, making the breast cancer the most commun cancer (1). In United States, breast cancer represent 29% of new cases expected to be diagnosed in 2015 of all cancer, and is one of the most common cancer diagnosed after skin cancer. It is also unfortunatley the second cause of death cancer within women, and 17% death cases are expected in 2015 for invasive breast cancer (IBC), among the new cases (2). Among the 61% of the breast cancer diagnosed at a confined stage, the 5-year survival rate is up to 99%, whereas it can drops to 25% when metastasis can be seen at time of diagnosis(2). The early detection of breast cancer is made by a clinical breast exam and a mammography for most of women, and has shown to reduce mortality since many years (3) with an incidence rate staying stable among women, which is the results of improvement of technics of detection for early diagnosis and treatement (2).

Based on its histological appearance, breast cancer can be divided into many subtypes, which are infiltrating or invasive ductal carcinoma (the most common type of breast cancer), medullary carcinoma, ductal carcinoma in situ, or tubular carcinoma, etc. Every subtype of breast cancer might target a specific group of patients and response to some unique treatments.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in women worldwide, comprising 14.3% of all female cancer mortalities. It is estimated that 480,000 women died in 2008 due to breast cancer. (WHO, 2008)

This section is going to review literature on overview of breast cancer, its causes, signs and symptoms and risk factors. It will also look at literature on screening methods of breast cancer, particularly mammogram.