Breast Cancer
Ashley McCamey
4/15/2014
Breast cancer. The second leading cause of death among women. In the United States, over 220,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and 40,000 will die each year. In men, 2,150 will be diagnosed and only 410 will die. Statistically only 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer and the risk is generally determined by genetics, diet, and lifestyle. But what is cancer? How do people get cancer? And why is breast cancer so prevalent in women? Let’s find out. So what exactly is cancer? Doctors seem to throw that word around quite a bit. Well, cancer is actually a blanket term for a class of diseases that grow abnormal cells in the body and attack the healthy ones, which then begin reproducing very fast, causing the tissue around those cells to metastasize, or spread. So how does one get cancer? After all cancer isn’t like the flu or the common cold. You can’t just “get” it from someone else. Or can you? In studies of cancer patients, doctors have found that only 10% of breast cancer patients had a family history of cancer. So how did the other 90% get cancer? Well, some patients were smokers or
…show more content…
First, after your mammogram results come back, your doctor will determine the course of treatment if a malignant tumor was discovered. Generally, if the tumor is small enough, it will be removed without the removal of the entire breast tissue. However, if the tumor has spread throughout the tissue, a mastectomy will be done. A mastectomy is the removal of the breast tissue. In this day and age, with the advancements in cancer research and treatment, this procedure can be avoided with early protection. However when most women hear that cancer is a possibility for them, they go ahead and get the mastectomy, when the reality is, only 25% of people who have the gene for breast cancer actually develop breast
Over the past decade breast cancer has become one of the most predominant diseases in the United States. Breast cancer starts out as a malignant tumor in the tissues of the breast which is formed from the uncontrolled growth of abnormal breast cells. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, but it can also appear in men. (Stephan, 2010)
Cancer is the term used to describe a group of diseases consisting of hundreds of ailments and although there exists so many different types of cancer, they all begin in a similar way. The body is made up of over a trillion cells, and cancer is the uncontrolled growth of malfunctioning cells in the body (Dawson, 1996). “Normal body cells grow, divide, and die in an orderly fashion. During the early years of a person’s life, normal cells divide faster to allow the person to grow. After the person becomes an adult, most cells divide only to replace worn-out or dying cells or to repair injuries” (American Cancer Society, 2012).
Breast cancer is a type of cancer originates from breast tissue, generally from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas whereas from ducts are called ductal carcinomas. (Ref: Breast Cancer, National Cancer Institute) Invasive breast cancer is breast cancer that has spread from the point of origin in the breast ducts/lobules to the surrounding normal tissue cells. In exceptional cases, breast cancer can start in at other sites in breast. Breast cancer occurs in both women and men, though male breast cancer is uncommon.
Breast Cancer is a disease that can sometimes lead to ovarian cancer and has caused a lot of women’s deaths. “About five to ten percent of breast cancer cases are thought to be hereditary, meaning that they result from gene defects called mutations inherited from a parent”. Related Risks: early menstruation, oral contraceptives and child bearing 20 percent. An environmental risk is that toxins can damage breast DNA. Over time, damaged DNA can lead to cancer.
Cancer starts when cells in a part of the body start to grow out of control. Cancer cell growth is different from normal cell growth. Instead of dying, cancer cells continue to grow and form new, abnormal cells. Cancer cells can also invade (grow into) other tissues, something that normal cells cannot do. Growing out of control and invading other tissues are what makes a cell a cancer cell. Cells become cancer cells because of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) damage. DNA is in every cell and it directs all the cell’s actions. In a normal cell, when DNA gets damaged the cell either repairs the damage or the cell dies. In cancer cells, the damaged DNA is not repaired, and the cell doesn’t die like it should. Instead, the cell goes on making new cells that the body doesn’t need. These new cells all have the same abnormal DNA as the first cell does.
Some risk factors cannot be changed such as age, race, and gender. A person 's risk increases as they get older. Approximately 1 out of 8 women are at risk of developing breast cancer are younger than 55. Approximately 2 out of 3 women are at risk of developing breast cancer who are older than 55 (American Cancer Society, 2014). To decrease this rate, women need more timely follow ups and access to high quality treatments (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Men can develop breast cancer, but this disease is more common among women than men. (American Cancer Society, 2015).
Cancer occurs when abnormal cells grow out of control; the cells don't die, instead they continue to divide into other abnormal cells. These abnormal cells invade other tissues; this type of cancer is called metastatic cancer. If these abnormal cells get into the lymphs or the blood stream they spread and replace all other normal cells, eventually taking over the entire body and killing the person. These abnormal cancer cells are caused by damaged DNA due to sun exposure, cigarette smoke, lifestyle choices, or inherited damaged DNA. (12)
According to Breast Cancer Statistics, Breast cancer usually occurs in women between the ages of 35 and 65, even though fifty percent of all breast cancer is of women sixty-five and older (Breast Cancer Statistics, 2008). Although the cause of cancer is unknown, there are factors that increase the chances of getting it. These facto...
What is breast cancer? According to the National Cancer Institute at the National Institute of Health breast cancer is a, “cancer that forms in tissues of the breast" (cancer.gov). More specifically breast cancer is a malignant tumor that grows inside the breast tissue. What happens is one cell in the tissue does not get the stop signal and keeps dividing into this big mass. This big mass continues to grow and grow and could eventually taking over space that is meant for other tissue or getting into the blood stream taking the dividing cells elsewhere. Breast cancer normally starts in one of two places.
Cancer has become the one of the most feared things for human beings. The various type of cancer have been discovered and there are still a lot of it that undiscoverable. Cancer is a complex disease that have a group of disease. The cancer itself cannot be describe by words. The causes of this cancer is still not being able to be discovered fully. There are only minor factor that can lead to this disease. The carcinogens are believed to be one of the causes that lead to cancer such as asbestos, radon gas, tobacco, PVC and much more from our chemical industries. The environment especially near to the industrial that produce chemical waste can be one of the causes lead to cancer. Cancer also have relation with our age, lifestyle, and diet and also can be genetically inherited. It is believed that older people have higher tendency to get cancer than younger people. Our lifestyle and diet also plays a role causing a cancer by our daily life routine. Smoking tobacco and eating unconsciously (still in research) can also increase the possibility to get cancer especially lung cancer that cause by smoking tobacco. There are several cases, cancer were inherited from their parents. Various type of viruses such as HIV, HPV, EBV and many more virus has a high capabilities to increase the chance a patient to get a cancer because these viruses lower their body immunity to disease.
Today in the United States, Breast Cancer occurs in about one in eight women which is currently the most common cancer among women. The number of cases is expected to decrease due to the advancements in technology and dedicated researchers. Scientists have put an estimated 4.8 billion dollars towards the research every year to help find a cure or a new treatment for breast cancer ("STAT Facts Breast Cancer"). Researchers have found causes, put in research and theories that help with understanding treatments, prevention and also common symptoms and coping mechanisms.
Breast Cancer is defined as “a group of solid tumor malignancies arising in the tissues of the breast” (Sarah Crawford, Richard Alder, 2013) in human and other mammals. It can happen to both men and women. For women, breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death. According to National Cancer Institute, in the United States, the 2014 estimated new cases and deaths of female from breast cancer are 232,670 and 40,000, respectively. For male, it’s 430 deaths out of 2,360 new cases. From these numbers, we can see that women in the U.S. are greatly affected by breast cancer, thus, it’s not difficult to imagine the impact on a worldwide level. Although these numbers look frightening, people can actually survive from breast cancer if it is detected early and treated properly, so it is extremely important for all of us, especially women, to have a better understanding of breast cancer.
For years people have tried to figure out one big question. What is the real cause of cancer? After much research, the statistics say that cancer is a disease of the modern world (Stevenson 1). A few main factors that cause cancer are the use of tobacco, industrial agents, and a person’s weight and diet. (Landau 2-4). The modern environment and everyday lifestyle of people contain factors that cause cancer.
There are many risks that affect breast cancer. One of the reasons it is more common, is because we have better medical equipment that detects breast cancer at an earlier stage than before. An estimated 192,370 new cases of breast cancer will occu...
Historically speaking breast cancer has been around for hundreds of years. Thankfully the treatment has improved. Patients who get the cancer removed and take care of themselves after, for example, by exercising and eating healthy, will live longer. There are many risks that increase the likelihood of developing breast cancer, for instance, age, family history, and race. A women who made history with breast cancer was Betty Ford, Betty was one of the first lady’s to speak openly about her disease. Betty encouraged women who have been affected with the disease to go to their doctor as soon as possible and told women who had shared that they didn’t have breast cancer to do self breast exams regularly and get mammograms. She also said when women get diagnosed with it don’t be embarrassed. Treatments in the past were pretty good and quite the same compared to the treatments given to people now, for instance, mastectomy’s which was the primary...