New hope is brought to those afflicted with breast cancer in recent years with medical advances being made and breast cancer treatment. Surgical methods are used in mastectomy and lumpectomy which is followed by hormone therapy, radiation therapy and if required chemotherapy. During a lifetime, one in every eight women is affected by breast cancer, a cancer which is also referred to as breast carcinoma. The highest type of cancer after lung cancer is breast cancer which kills thousands of women the world over.
Some women seem to be susceptible to breast cancer, and there are certain risk factors they are most exposed to, but nobody knows for sure why. There are some risks that cannot be helped! There are personal risk factors, genetic factors, age factors, and many other risks. As far as personal risk factors, the phase during menopause after the age of 55, and that before the age of 12 is among the leading personal risk factors. The risk of getting breast cancer is increased greatly with the presence of the genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 which are genetic factors. If there have been incidences of breast cancer amongst any member in the family it is advisable for women to get themselves tested.
The chances of getting breast cancer are increased with advancing age. Being childless, having a child after 35 years of age, having dense breasts, being overweight or on hormone replacement therapy, using birth control pills, consuming alcohol are some of the risks associated with breast cancer. Though the number of cases is not alarming, breast cancer does affect men too. A lump formation in the breast, changes in the size or shape of the breast, fluid discharge from the nipple are some of the symptoms of breast cancer.
Methods of breast cancer treatment:
Lumpectomy and Mastectomy:
One of the main methods of breast cancer treatment is surgery. Even after more than a century, this treatment is still popular and is usually succeeded by breast cancer radiation treatment. Along with hormone therapy several patients may also need chemotherapy. In lumpectomy the tissue that is cancerous is surgically removed followed by radiation. Lumpectomy is also called breast conserving surgery. Mastectomy is removing the breast surgically. Along with subsequent tests checking for cancer in the lymph nodes located near the affected breast, both these types of surgeries can be combined. Things have changed a fair amount as far as breast surgery like mastectomy and lumpectomy is concerned in the recent years. The objective of most surgeries today is to preserve as much healthy part of the breast along with the tissues surrounding the breast as possible. Today mastectomy or removal of breast is a more refined procedure of breast cancer treatment and a far less drastic option than it used to be decades back.
Radiation therapy:
As far as radiation therapy is concerned it is a targeted and highly effective method of destroying the cells of cancer which remain after the surgery. On the effected part like the lymph nodes and the breast area, beams of high energy radiation are concentrated. Both cancer cells as well as normal cells get damaged when they are in the beam’s path. Concentrated radiation affects cancer cells more as compared to normal cells. Cancer cells grow and make new cells at a faster rate. These two activities make cancer cells vulnerable to the damaging effects of radiation. Besides this, as compared to healthy cells, cancer cells are less organized. It is more difficult for these cells to recover by repairing themselves hence these cells get destroyed by radiation very easily. Normal cells are able to survive as they are able to repair themselves better.
Chemotherapy and hormone therapy:
Chemotherapy goes through the blood stream which means that the whole body is affected. From the original location of the cancer, some of the cancer cells spread to some other parts of the body, and the purpose of this breast cancer treatment is to kill cancer cells. This treatment is effective because the drugs hinder rapid division of cells. Cells in the intestinal tract, blood, mouth, nails, nose, vagina and hair also divide rapidly and these too are affected in this treatment. For the treatment to be easier on the system, these days chemo has been refined.
Against hormone receptor positive breast cancer, home therapy is a highly effective breast cancer treatment. It is used to block the turning on ability of the hormone estrogen and also stimulate the growth of cancer cells. This treatment is also referred to anti estrogen therapy sometimes. Cancer affects the lives of women physically as well as mentally hence they are more concerned about breast cancer than other types of cancer. By self examining the breast, clinical breast examination and mammograms it becomes easier to trace and treat this dreaded cancer.