Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. It basically starts as a cell growth in the breast tissues and later turns into cancer. The most alarming thing is that every woman is born with cells in breast tissues which can easily turn into cancer at any time. It’s more like a ticking time bomb which is waiting to get triggered. However, it doesn’t happen overnight as it starts giving some symptoms which could be easily detected in the screening procedure. The survival rate of breast cancer patients is increasing which means women have become much more aware of their cancer status and advanced treatments like surgical methods have been opted for better solutions.
Breast cancer causes
When we are discussing the primary causes of breast cancer then we should always look for a person’s genetic makeup or environment surrounding them. But in reality, there is no one reason behind breast cancer. However, researchers have found that there are several other things that increase the risk of getting breast cancer like hormonal changes, lifestyle choices and environmental status. But no matter how hard we try to get the concrete reason behind some people getting cancer, some people don’t who are exposed to more risk than anyone but still, they are quite safe. The only conclusion that doctors can come up with is simple: the genetic makeup of the people and their environment plays a crucial role when it comes to breast cancer.
Breast cancer symptoms
There are many symptoms of breast cancer that you have to look for depending on the physical or mental state of the body. Therefore, listed below are some of the best-recognized breast cancer symptoms:-
- The most common one is a breast lump or thickened spot in the breast area which feels different from the other areas.
- This is not clinically proven but inward nipples or flattered spots around nipples could be prone to breast cancer.
- The changes in the breast skin look different than other breast skin areas e.g. In white skin people have pink or red-looking breast skin and in black or brown-colored people the breast skin looks darker or purple in some cases.
- You can see some changes in size, shape or appearance of the breast or they might look uneven.
- There are some unfamiliar changes in the breast skin which do not look normal and if you notice any changes in the skin color then you should look for breast screening.
- Shredding of the breast skin which might look pale or flattened.
These are some of the most common symptoms of breast cancer which might be becoming a common problem in women. As a result, you should definitely look for treatment as quickly as possible if you are experiencing any of these symptoms.
Breast cancer types
Breast cancer consists of several conditions which have been highlighted here. So, every woman can truly understand how to examine their breast properly for any of these symptoms. We are going to explore some of the common types of breast cancer:-
- Angiosarcoma- This is a rare type of cancer that originates in the lining of the blood vessels and lymph vessels.
- (DCIS) Ductal carcinoma in situ- This is a very early stage of cancer where the cancer cells are still in the milk duct and haven’t spread across the breast area.
- Inflammatory breast cancer- It makes the breasts swell and change colour which will look unusual.
- Invasive lobular carcinoma- This is a type of breast cancer which begins in the lobules which is a milk-producing gland in the nipples.
- Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS)- It is a rare type of cancer in which uncommon types of cells have been formed in the lobules.
- Paget’s disease of the breast– It starts with the nipple area and extends to the dark circle area of the nipple.
- Recurrent breast cancer- This is a type of breast cancer that comes back after the initial treatments of chemotherapy.
Breast cancer risk factors
Breast cancer can be accelerated if you are undergoing any of these risk factors which might elevate your chances of having breast cancer. Let’s discuss some of the common risk factors:
- Breast cancer in family- If your family has a history of breast cancer then you are more likely to suffer from breast cancer. However, the risk gets higher if your family has a history of getting breast cancer at a very young age. But the researchers have suggested that these family traits have been ignored in ethical cancer treatments which only focus on the patient’s cause or their family. In other words, there are still many people who have been diagnosed with cancer without any family history.
- History of breast cancer- This is indeed very invasive due to its complicated emergence. If you had breast cancer in any of the breasts then you are more likely to have cancer in the remaining one which makes it more dangerous. Therefore, invasive behaviour is something that everyone fears but one could only be certain about their situation after the breast cancer screening.
- History of breast condition- Women usually ignore any unfamiliar aspect of their breasts which exposes them to several unnoticeable breast cancer symptoms which go under the radar like lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS), and atypical hyperplasia of the breast. These conditions are the market of cancer symptoms which you shouldn’t ignore and get immediate treatment properly.
- Dense breast tissues- Women’s breasts are made of fatty and dense tissues. Dense tissues have been made of milk glands, milk ducts and fibrous tissues. However, if you are diagnosed with dense breast tissues then detecting any signs of breast cancer will be difficult in the mammogram machine. This is the very reason why women often overlook their cancer symptoms as they have dense breast tissues making it extremely difficult to diagnose properly.
Breast cancer treatments
When you get yourself diagnosed through breast screening then you need to look for better alternatives for the cancer treatments. Listed below are some of the most popular and safer ones.
- Breast screening- You should start with breast screening and should know everything about this specific procedure. It is the initial steps that truly matters and will tell you about the cancer symptoms. After finding any suspicious signs of breast cancer you can contact healthcare authorities for further treatments.
- Preventing medications- For women who have a high risk of breast cancer and require immediate treatment then preventive medications like estrogen-blocking hormones can reduce the risk of cancer spread. This is a better solution but you need to make some lifestyle changes to make the most of these medications.
- Preventive surgeries- If any woman is suffering from breast cancer and looking for a surgical method then she can go for two different routes depending on the invasive nature of the cancer. The first one is prophylactic mastectomy which is the removal of the infected breast surgery where doctors would cut the breast part infected with cancer-causing cells. The second one is prophylactic oophorectomy which lowers the risk of breast and ovarian cancer in future as well.
Bottom line
Breast cancer is indeed a common concern in women of all ages but now there are scientific advancements which could easily help you to treat it correctly without any suffering. But still, you have to make some lifestyle adjustments depending on the current conditions for a speedy recovery.
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