Breast Cancer - Literature review Example

According to the 2008 GLOBOCAN series that was published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), cancer was believed to account for 14 percent of all deaths worldwide with percentages reaching 21.1 percent of all deaths in the Western Pacific region, 19.8 percent in Europe, 19.7% in the Americas, 9.3 percent in South East Asia, 7.6 percent in the Eastern Mediterranean, and 5.0 percent in Africa (Jemal et al. 2011). The top five diagnosed cancers worldwide in 2008 were lung cancer (15%), female breast cancer (11%), colorectal cancer (10 percent), cancer of the stomach (eight percent), and cancer of the prostate (seven percent) (Jemal et al. 2011). Then again, the top five causes of death worldwide from cancer are lung cancer (18%), stomach cancer (10%), liver cancer (9%), colorectal cancer (8%), and female breast cancer (6%) (Ferlay et al. 2010). In addition, there occurred 12.

7 million cases of cancer, with 7.6 million cases out of these resulting in cancer-related deaths. Among these, 56 percent of all cancer cases and 64 percent of cancer-related mortalities were reported in developing countries (Ferlay et al. 2010). The first section of the review will be based on the types of breast cancer and will address in situ breast cancers as well as invasive breast cancers. Each of these subtopics will be further subdivided into smaller subtopics to address specific issues under the types of breast cancer.

The second section will address the stages of breast cancer and will all the stages of the disease, from stage 0 through stage 4, and the Tumour, Node, Metastasis (TNM) staging system. The third section of the literature review will discuss the form and growth patterns of cancer cells – or the grades of breast cancer – from grade 1 (well-differentiated) to grade three (poorly differentiated). The subsequent section will review the risk factors that are linked to female breast cancer.

This section will analyze factors such as those related to the female reproductive system and the menstrual cycle, lifestyle factors, and other factors that generally increase the risk of women having breast cancer.