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... read cancer, in order for an early treatment. STAGES OF BREAST CANCER There are mainly four stages of breast cancer. The Stage 0 is noninvasive breast cancer, that is, carcinoma in situ with no affected lymph nodes or metastasis. This is the most favorable stage of breast cancer. The next, Stage 1 breast cancer that is less than three quarters of an inch in diameter and has not spread from the breast.
The Stage 2 is the breast cancer that is fairly small in size but has spread to lymph nodes in the armpit or cancer that is somewhat larger but has not spread to the lymph nodes. In, Stage 3 the is breast cancer of a larger size (greater than 2 inches in diameter), with greater lymph node involvement, or of the inflammatory type. The Stage 4 is metastatic breast cancer: a tumor of any size or type that has metastasized to another part of the body. This is the least favorable stage. The treatment of breast cancer mostly depends entirely upon the stage of breast cancer. It can be easily cured during Stage 0 or 1 but becomes difficult as the stages increase.
TREATMENT OF BREAST CANCER Treatment depends on a large number of factors, including the type of breast cancer, the hormone receptor status of the tumor, the stage of the tumor, the size of the breast, and the person's general health, age, and menstrual status (has or has not been through menopause). The treatment of breast cancer includes radiation, radiation is used most often in people who have undergone conservative surgery such as lumpectomy (conservative surgery is designed to leave as much of the breast tissue in place as possible). Radiation therapy is used to kill tumor if there are any left after this surgery. The Radiation therapy is usually given 5 days a week over 5 - 6 weeks.
Radiation therapy is painless and has relatively few side effects. The another treatment is, Chemotherapy, that consists of the administration of medications that kill cancer or stop them from growing. Chemotherapy is usually given in "cycles. " Each cycle includes a period of intensive treatment lasting a few days or weeks followed by a few weeks of recovery. Most people with breast cancer receive at least 2, more often 4, cycles of chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy may find stray tumor cells that may have migrated from the breast area. It has some side effects that include loss of hair, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, fatigue, and low blood cell counts. There are 3 different chemotherapy strategies are used; Adjuvant chemotherapy (is given to people who have had curative treatment for their breast cancer), . Cryo surgical chemotherapy (is given to shrink a large tumor and / or to kill stray cancers cells), Regular chemotherapy (is routinely administered to people with breast cancer that has spread beyond the confines of the breast or local area) Besides that, hormonal therapy may be given because breast cancers (especially those that have ample estrogen or progesterone receptors) are frequently sensitive to changes in hormones.
At present, tamoxifen (Nolvadex) is the most commonly prescribed hormone treatment. It is used both for breast cancer prevention and for treatment. Another agent, fulvestrant (Faslodex) is also used sometimes. Further more, Monoclonal antibodies (antibodies against proteins in or around a cancer cell) are also given.
These antibodies recognize a cancer cell and attack it. Trastuzumab (Herceptin) is an antibody against the protein responsible for cancer cell growth in many women with breast cancer. besides all these treatments, Surgery is the mainstay of therapy for breast cancer. Also, the choice as to which type of surgery is based on a number of factors, including the size and location of the tumor, the type of tumor, and the person's overall health and personal wishes. Breast-sparing surgery is often possible.
The four different types of surgery include; Lumpectomy (involves removal of the cancerous tissue and a surrounding area of normal tissue), Simple mastectomy (removes the entire breast but no other structures), Modified radical mastectomy (removes the breast and the axillary (underarm) lymph nodes) and, Radical mastectomy (involves removal of the breast and the underlying chest wall muscles, as well as the underarm contents). So, these are the treatments for breast that are developed till now. PREVENTION OF BREATS CANCER As the saying goes that Prevention is better then Cure, therefore it is better to prevent developing breast cancer rather than treating it after. Also, cancer cannot be always fully cured, and if it does, it always leaves some side effects or other problems which a person has to suffer forever. Besides, cancer is most of the time life-threatening, whether it is breast cancer or any other. Moreover, it is not anyone fault in getting cancer, as the risk factors are natural and cannot be controlled.
However, the factors that add to more risk can be prevented. This includes not allowing the increase of factors that can be controlled. These are some easy thinks like eating a balanced diet, exercising, having appropriate body weight, limiting the consumption alcohol to 1 or 2 glasses per day, no smoking and less use of estrogen or hormone replacement pills. Also, having one or more child, specially at a younger age decreases a womans chance of developing breast cancer during her lifetime.
Thus, if a woman has a doubt about developing cancer, then she avoid all the risk factors that are under her control. Besides this, all women should get a clinical breast examinations every three years from ages 20 - 39 and then every year after that. baseline mammogram should be done by the age of 40. In addition, every woman can and should examine her breasts herself and notice for any changes.
These examinations should be done in order to detect the early signs of cancer. Infact, breast cancer can be cured easily in its early stages, so, early detection of breast cancer is important. Thus, prevention of breast cancer includes avoiding the risk factors, breast examination and early detection. MALE BREAST CANCER Breast cancer is found in males but only in 1 male among 100 females. Men at any age may develop breast cancer, but it usually fond in males between 60 to 70 years of age.
cancer. However, risk or causal factors are not all same as females. Radiation exposure, high levels of estrogen in the body due to genetic disorder, heredity that is having several female relatives who had breast cancer and age. In addition to that, the types, stages, diagnoses and treatments for male breast cancer are almost same as female breast cancer.
CONCLUSION The conclusion of research is that Breast cancer can affect threaten the life of any women (also few males). It mostly leads to death as most of the times it is not detected early, so the treatment cannot be done properly. Moreover, even if it is treated, even then always remains a lifelong problem for the patient. There are also not as many perfect, safe and complete treatment for breast cancer. Also, many people are not aware much about the risks, signs, treatment and basic things about breast cancer. So, there should be awareness among people, especially among women, to counter the disease.
It is fact that every 2 minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer. Thus, more awareness and research is need to stop this epidemic which is severely destroying womens existence
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