Symptoms And Diagnosis Of Cancer

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.

“Cancer” is the name for a group of diseases that start in the body at the cellular level. Even though there are many different kinds of cancer, they all begin with abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These abnormal cells lump together to form a mass of tissue or “malignant tumor”. Malignant means that it can spread to other parts of the body or Metastasize . If the breast is the original location of the cancer growth or malignant tumor, the tumor is called breast cancer. (American Cancer Society, 2014, as cited in cbcf.org)

Currently mammography and ultrasound are basic imaging techniques for detection and localization of breast tumor. Breast Ultrasound is a typically painless medical test that uses reflected sound waves for further evaluation of a breast abnormality or a specific area seen on mammography. Ultrasound can locate and measure abnormalities or changes to determine if a breast lump is solid or filled with fluid. A mammogram is an x-ray of the breast which may find tumors that are too small to feel. Women aged 40 to 74 years should have annual screening mammograms to lower chance of dying from breast cancer(2,15).Mammograms are less likely to find breast tumors in women younger than 50 years. This may

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).

Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in American women (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). However, regular screening and mammograms can help reduce the mortality rates of breast cancer patients (LaPorta, et al., 2017). Signs and symptoms of breast cancer may include lumps, abnormal changes to the nipple, abnormal discharge from the nipple, or change in color of the breast or part of the breast (Asuquo and Olajide, 2015). There are many factors that can put women at risk of developing breast cancer, the two most common being growing older and being female (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). Other risk factors can include things such as a

Describe the three-pronged approach to early detection of breast masses: mammography, clinical breast exam, and self-awareness.

New wheezing, shortness of breath, hoarseness, coughing up blood, swelling in the neck and face, difficulty swallowing, weight loss and no appetite, fatigue and weakness, clubbing of the fingers. (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=52889). Areas of tenderness or masses may be felt when palpating the chest wall. Increased vibrations felt on the chest wall indicates areas of the lung where air spaces are filled with a tumor or fluid. Lung areas with masses sound dull and flat rather than hollow on chest percussion. Breath sounds may change with a tumor in place. Wheezes will indicate obstruction of airflow, decreased or absent breath sounds will indicate complete obstruction of airway by a tumor or fluid. A pleural friction rub may be heard when inflammation also is present. Lung cancer may also effect other systems of the body like heart sounds could be muffled by a tumor or fluid around the heart. Bones will lose density with a tumor in

With all kinds of cancer, there are seven major warning signs. These seven signs found in one person would indicate that the person may be suffering from some type of cancer, and this person should see a doctor immediately. The seven warning signs are a significant change in bowel or bladder habits, a sore that does not heal, unusual bleeding or discharge, thickening or lumps in breast, indigestion or difficulty swallowing, obvious changes in wart or mole, and a nagging cough or hoarseness.

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.

Mammograms are probably the most important tool doctors have in diagnosing breast cancer. Although they do not prevent one from acquiring breast cancer, it does help diagnosing as early as possible. “Mammography has a false-negative (missed cancer) rate of at least 10 percent (Wikipedia)”. Mammograms rarely miss cancerous cells. That of which they do miss is because of the density in the breast. A false negative is more common among younger women due to the fact that younger woman have more density in their breasts. There are four different categories found by mammograms: 1. easily treated cancers. 2. aggressive cancers that are detected too late. 3. slow-growing cancers that ultimately will not harm or kill a patient before natural causes do, and 4. a small number of cancers who treatment outcome is better because of early detection. Mammograms will help to find all kinds of cancers that are undetectable by self-examinations.

The medical world has made some huge advances in diagnosing breast cancer and because of that, it has given women everywhere a fighting chance. Even with Breast Self-Exams (BSE) and Mammography it is still prevalent today. I will take you through the journey from finding the first lump, diagnosis, therapy, and finally the outcome. I have interviewed real women and families of women about their path with this disease and how it affected them. It has been an honor to research this subject and in doing so, taught me a lot.

breast cancer from twenty five to thirty percent and women age forty the data states a

The symptoms of breast cancer vary in different woman, and men sometimes to. A few symptoms of breast cancer is lumps, swollen lymph nodes under arm, leaking, changing color, and many other symptoms. Three main ones are lumps, lymph nodes swollen underarm, and last is change in color. A first symptom a person might encounter is a lump in his or her breast. According to American Cancer Society (2017) “The most common symptom of breast cancer is a new lump or mass.” A second symptom is lymph nodes swollen. According to American Cancer Society (2017) “Sometimes a breast cancer can spread to lymph nodes under the arm or around the collar bone and cause a lump or swelling there, even before the original tumor in

There are four stages of breast cancer. The Stage 0 is noninvasive breast cancer, that is, carcinoma in situ with no affected lymph nodes or metastasis. Stage zero is the most favorable. Now Stage 1 breast cancer is less than two centimeters in greatest dimension and is only in the breasts. In Stage 2, the cancer is no larger than two centimeters but it has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm. The