Different Aspects of Breast Cancer - Essay Example

?Running Head: Breast Cancer Breast Cancer [Institute’s Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 INTRODUCTION 3 STAGES & TYPES 4 RISK FACTORS 5 DIAGNOSIS & TREATMENT 6 CONCLUSION 7 REFERENCES 8 INTRODUCTION Since few years, cancer has become one of the most perilous diseases that have resulted in death of millions of people worldwide. There are many types of cancer. As the name indicates, cancer cells are produced in the breast part with the possibility of affecting other organs and tissues of the human body. Cells are the basic elements that create tissues in the body. Research (McPhee & Tierney, 2007, pp. 23-39) has indicated that body often starts creating wrong cells that damage the body by building a mass of damaged tissues called a lump or a tumor. Breast cancer refers to the disease when a lump or tumor forms in the part of breast. Particularly, this paper will focus primarily on breast cancer that has become one of the most common types of cancer affecting thousands of women in Australia and worldwide. In this regard, the paper has been divided into four sections of stages and types, risk factors, diagnosis and treatment, and conclusion. (Susang Komen, 2013) STAGES & TYPES Knowing the stage and type is very imperative for successful diagnosis and treatment of the breast cancer. Some of the factors that determine stage and type of the breast cancer are size of the lump, number of damaged lymph nodes, axillary area, and the amount of damage to other parts of the body (Link, Forsthoff, & Waisman, 2003, pp. 41-48). There are four stages of breast cancer; however, if one goes into the sub-stages, then there are seven stages of breast cancer according to abovementioned factors. First stage is also known as Stage 0 breast cancer that refers to the condition in which cancerous cells exist in lining of milk duct (Brown, Freeman, & Platt, 2006, pp. 21-24). This stage is also called ductal carcinoma in situ or DCIS (Brown, Freeman, & Platt, 2006, pp. 21-24). In types, physicians refer it as earlier cancer. When the development of cancerous cells continues, it reaches the stage two in which cells extend themselves toward adjoining lymph nodes. Physicians further divide this stage into two sub-stages that are determined by size and spread of the lump. (MedicineNet.com, 2013) When the lump spreads outside the breast area affecting neighboring muscles, it is referred as Stage 3 breast cancer, which is considered as treatable among the doctors. This stage has also been divided further into three sub-stages that are determined by the same two factors of size and spread of the tumor (Brown, Freeman, & Platt, 2006, pp. 21-24). The last stage is also known as metastatic cancer (Mansel, Fodstad, & Jiang, 2009, pp. 27-35) in which cancerous cells reach other parts and/or organs of the body. In today’s science, this stage is considered incurable; however, doctors prescribe therapies along with personal motivation that may allow patients to extend their life period to few years (Brown, Freeman, & Platt, 2006, pp. 25-32). Besides abovementioned stages, research has indicated few other types of breast cancer, such as triple negative breast cancer that refers to the type in which neugene, estrogen, and progesterone, the three cancer-attracting receptors are absent in the cancer lump. Another common type is inflammatory breast cancer (Mansel, Fodstad, & Jiang, 2009, pp. 37-55) that refers to the type where the cells affect skin and lymph vessels of the breast. RISK FACTORS Although there have been ambiguity regarding specific risk factors related to breast cancer, however, research has shown few factors that have been linked with breast cancer. Particularly, age is one of the most imperative risk factors as studies have indicated breast cancer occurring more in older women as compared to younger women worldwide (McPhee & Tierney, 2007, pp. 37-43). However, this augmentation begins to decrease after the age of menopause. Besides, it has been an observation that women in developed countries have been major victims of breast cancer due to their tendency of fewer children and lesser time spent on breastfeeding. Moreover, hormones are another important risk factor associated with breast cancer, as a higher level of endogenous hormones seems to augment the chances of having breast cancer in women. Lastly, family history is another risk factor as women with a history of breast cancer in family confronts double the risk as compared to women without such occurrence in the family (Brown, Freeman, & Platt, 2006, pp. 39-51). DIAGNOSIS & TREATMENT Physicians and health awareness campaigns have been advocating self-administered breast tests to allow earlier diagnosis of the cancer; however, sometimes, the symptoms are not so visible and need proper diagnostic services. In this regard, the most common is a mammogram that works as an x-ray of the breast part that allows the physicians to identify any symptoms that may be invisible to the naked eye (Ko, Dollinger, & Rosenbaum, 2008, pp. 51-58). Besides mammogram, women usually go through ultrasound that scans the breast part with the help of sound waves to provide pictures of breast tissues in the human body (Ko, Dollinger, & Rosenbaum, 2008, pp. 51-58). Lastly, doctors also utilize the diagnostic tool of MRI that creates a magnetic field to scan the breast and provide detailed pictures of the breast tissues in the body. Once the cancer is diagnosed, the patient goes through a process of counseling where doctors share different treatment procedures. The most common treatment is surgery that has resulted in higher rate of success in patients of breast cancer (Ko, Dollinger, & Rosenbaum, 2008, pp. 47-62). Like other types of surgeries, this process includes removal of cancerous lump from the breast along with removal of margins that results in stoppage of the spreading process. Besides surgery, lumpectomy is another treatment that involves removal of some part of the breast tissue unlike normal surgery in which sometimes, whole breast is removed to stop spread of the cancer. This type of treatment is carried out in earlier stages of cancer where extensive surgery is not required. Today’s science has been able to understand biology of human body extensively, and thus, breast reconstruction is another type of post-treatment in which patients go through breast implantation using silicone gel after successful completion of surgery. Another alternative is utilization of tissues from other parts of the body that refers as breast transplants (Bessiel, 2008, pp. 30-36). However, before reconstruction or surgery, doctors usually treat patients suffering from breast cancer through chemotherapy that involves utilization of drugs that tries to eliminate cancerous cells from the breast (Singletary, Robb, & Hortobagyi, 2004, pp. 17-22). Usually, cytotoxic drugs are used by the doctors that flow in the human body resulting in eradication of the cancerous cells. CONCLUSION Conclusively, the paper included discussion of different aspects of breast cancer that included its definition, stages, types, risk factors associated with its occurrence, diagnosis, and finally, options of treatment. Although breast cancer is only one term, however, studies have indicated many stages and different types of breast cancer that makes it a complex and life-taking disease. To summarize, age, genetics, family history, and breastfeeding habits are some of the risk factors whereas, one can diagnose the disease by mammogram, ultrasound, and MRI followed by treatments according to stage and type of this cancer. REFERENCES Bessiel, Jakobe H. 2008. Progress in Cancer Prevention. San Francisco: Nova Publishers. Brown, Zora K., Freeman, Harold, & Platt, Elizabeth. 2006. 100 Questions & Answers about Breast Cancer. New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Ko, Andrew H., Dollinger, Malin, & Rosenbaum, Ernest H. 2008. Everyone's Guide to Cancer Therapy: How Cancer Is Diagnosed, Treated, and Managed Day to Day. London: Andrews McMeel Publishing. Link, John, Forsthoff, Cynthia, & Waisman, James. 2003. The Breast Cancer Survival Manual: a step-by-step guide for the woman with newly diagnosed breast cancer. New York: H. Holt. Mansel, Robert E., Fodstad, Oystein, & Jiang, Wen G. 2009. Metastasis of Breast Cancer. San Francisco: Springer. McPhee, Stephen J & Tierney, Lawrence M. 2007. Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment 2008. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional. MedicineNet.com. 2013. Breast Lumps in Women. Retrieved on October 12, 2013: http://www.medicinenet.com/breast_lumps_in_women/article.htm Singletary, S. Eva., Robb, Geoffrey L., & Hortobagyi, Gabriel N. 2004. Advanced Therapy of Breast Disease. New York: PMPH-USA. Susang Komen. 2013. Breast Cancer Statistics. Retrieved on October 12, 2013: http://ww5.komen.org/breastcancer/statistics.html Read More