Introduction
“According to the American Cancer Society, Breast Cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women after lung cancer.” (4) (Medical Assisting, 28 December 2008). Any form of cancer is deadly be it lung, mouth or for that matter breast cancer. The cancer starts in the breast cells and rapidly multiplies within no time. This type of cancer is not mutually exclusive to women, this is a very wrong perception that only women get breast cancer, even men are likely to get breast cancer but they are less prone to the same. This paper will throw light upon what breast cancer is all about, the risk factors, the distribution and determinants of the same and the paper will also focus upon the lack of knowledge among people relating to the same.
Description and definition of Breast Cancer
Cancer is deadly and it has become very common among people off late, lung cancer is the most widely spread cancer across the globe; breast cancer is fast catching up with lung cancer which at the moment is the most common form of cancer. This can also affect the males because of the identical tissues which the males have, the same are also found in women hence it becomes likely that a male can also develop breast cancer. If the statistics are to be believed then a male is 100 times less likely to get breast cancer than a woman. The most common symptom of breast cancer is usually a lump which appears on the breast, the lump feels very different when compared to the surrounding areas of the breast. “Every woman is at risk for breast cancer. The risk varies with age. At age twenty-five, a woman’s risk is about 1 in 20,000. At age forty-five, it is 1 in about 100. At age eighty-five, it is more than 1 in 10. About 80 percent of all breast cancers are found in women over the age of fifty.” (2) (Breast Cancer, 28 December 2008). There isn’t much known regarding the cause of the disease, research is still on to find the same. In most of the cases, for Diagnosis A doctor performs Biopsy, this is a procedure under which tissues are removed from the patients breast who is likely to be suffering from breast cancer and these tissues are studied under the microscope so as to decide whether or not the patient has Breast Cancer. After carefully studying the tissues, a conclusion is arrived at.
“Breast cancer is the most common cause of cancer in women and the second most common cause of cancer death in women in the U.S. While the majority of new breast cancers are diagnosed as a result of an abnormality seen on a mammogram, a lump or change in consistency of the breast tissue can also be a warning sign of the disease. Heightened awareness of breast cancer risk in the past decades has led to an increase in the number of women undergoing mammography for screening, leading to detection of cancers in earlier stages and a resultant improvement in survival rates.” (1) (Breast Cancer, 28 December 2008).
Treatment of the Disease
The treatment can be of two different types namely the Local Therapy or the Systemic Therapy. Local therapy involves surgery and radiation on the contrary Local Therapy involves Chemotherapy, hormone therapy and biological therapy. A patient undergoing treatment usually experiences side effects because the healthy cells in the body get affected depending upon the different methods of treatment adopted to counter the disease. “It’s good to know that a lot of breast abnormalities found by you, your doctor, or on a mammogram will turn out to be benign breast disease. Benign breast disease is not cancerous and not life-threatening. Cysts and fatty tumors are examples of benign breast disease. Still, having benign breast disease does increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer in the future.” (3) (Breast Cancer Risk, 28 December 2008).
Conclusion
Breast Cancer is a killer disease which mainly affects women but it is a misconception that men can never have breast cancer. Many men have been diagnosed of having Breast Cancer, though it is a fact that women are more prone to this killer disease. Side effects are common when undergoing treatment, this is because the healthy cells are affected depending upon the method of treatment adopted. Breast cancer is believed to occur mainly in women who have had a past record of Breast cancer, in the sense that someone or the other in their family has been earlier affected by the same disease. There are good methods of treatment thanks to the advancement in the science and technology.
References
- Breast Cancer. In Free health Encyclopedia. 2008. Web.
- Breast Cancer. In Introduction to Breast Cancer. 2008. Web.
- Breast Cancer Risk. In Breast Cancer. Org. 2008. Web.
- Booth, Wicker, Wyman, Pugh, Thompson. Medical Assisting (Third Edition). Web.