.
Breast Cancer
Breast Cancer
Introduction: Breast cancer occurs in the mammary gland. Cancer happens when the mutation persists which results the division of cells in an uncontrolled way. The cancer targets the lobules and the ducts of mammary gland. The milk produces in the lobule and comes to the nipple by the ducts. There is a possibility that the cancer may affect the connective tissues of breast.
Symptoms: Breast cancer starts from a lump which grows to a tumor. But here every lump is not grows to a cancer or tumor. However, the most common symptoms are:
- Lump seen under the skin of breast.
- Pain in the breast.
- Skin color changes.
- Swelling of breast.
- Changing in nipple discharge.
- Blood flow from nipples.
- Scaling or peeling of nipple skin.
- Changes in shape or size of nipple.
- Lump or swelling under the arms.
Types:
- Ductal carcinoma: In this type of cancer, the disease restricts itself to the ducts of the breasts and never spread to the surrounding cells.
- Lobular carcinoma: The cancer cell grows in the milk producing gland named globules and never spreads to the surroundings.
- Invasive ductal carcinoma: The cancer begins in the milk ducts and spreads to the surrounding tissues and then to the other organs.
- Invasive lobular carcinoma: Here the disease starts from globules and spreads to the other tissues.
Diagnosis: The following tests can help to diagnose the cancer.
- Mammogram: The test detects the abnormal area related to cancer in the breasts.
- Ultrasound: The test helps to detect the tumor or cyst in mammary gland.
- Breast biopsy: After mammogram and ultrasound if it’s sure that the cancer occurs then biopsy is compulsory for the patient. In this case a small amount of tissues are taken to the lab to test for presence of cancer cells.
Treatment: The surgeon decides to the size, stage of the tumor or cancer for the treatment.
- Surgery:
- Lumpectomy: Only the tumor and surrounding tissues removed and rest remain intact.
- Mastectomy: the breast removed totally.
- Lymph node dissection: The infected lymph nodes removed.
- Contralateral prophylactic mastectomy: The doctor removed the healthy breast to minimize the risk of cancer in the other parts.
- Radiation therapy: A high powered radiation beam used to kill the cancer cells.
- Chemotherapy: It’s a kind of drug therapy to destroy the cancer cells.
- Hormone therapy: The therapy restricts the production of the female hormone named estrogen and progesterone which results in blocking the hormone receptors on the cancer cells.
- Medication: The medication includes the reversing the production of cancer cells or stopping it. Other than that the medication can also used to stop the mutation which leads to cancer.
.
