Demystifying breast cancer[What you need to know about breast cancer]

in #steemstem6 years ago (edited)

Growing up as a little boy, around age eleven, i saw my aunty suffer from a metastatic breast cancer. Even though I hardly knew what it was, i can vividly remember the amount of pain it caused not just her, but my parents too. I can also remember how she couldn't lift or drop her right arm like she used to, which kept me wondering what kind of illness that could possibly be. They lived in a rural area and had little or no money to take her to the hospital. Her illness grew worse with each moon until she finally passed away.

Growing up with this thought in my head, led me to the journey of discovering what cancers and diseases really are, and what we must do to prevent such suffering and pain in the life of anyone, especially in places where individuals cannot afford the kind of money to undergo the available cancer therapies.


Introduction


This diagram shows a stage 2A cancer (License: CC-BY-SA 3.0]: wikimedia

The life of every human begins as a single cell. As time goes on, this single cell divides into 2 cells, further into 8cells, until we have a human composed of trillions of cells. These group of cells come together to form tissues, group of tissues form organs, organs make up the body system. During the course of cell divisions in some individuals, there is an observed dysfunction in the cell, an error in a cells DNA, this is called mutation. In most cases, the immune system senses this abnormality early enough, and shuts down the dysfunctional cell.

The problem begins when the immune system fails to detect this dysfunctional cell growth, thereby allowing its growth and division which further passes down this defect to its offspring, resulting to what we know today as cancer. This is why it is proper to go for medical checkup regularly, or when you feel a lump in your breast, also when you detect an uncommon change In your body. But hey! slow down, not every detection or growth in your body is cancerous, there are other non-cancerous tumors which are also as a result of dysfunctional cell growth, known as **benign tumors. It is advised to see your doctor regardless.

What we know today as cancer, is a generic term, basically used to describe a collection of diseases. A typical example of this, is breast cancer. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. It is not just a case for women alone, there are also recorded cases of men who develop breast cancer, even though the statistics is pretty low, compared to that of women.


What is a mammogram, and why do I advise you use this screening method first?


(License: CC-BY-SA 3.0]: wikimedia

A huge number of women diagnosed with breast cancer, happens at a very early stage detection, mostly when the tumor is little, and haven't spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body. In most early detection cases, surgery is the best method of treatment.

The mammogram is a tool that is basically used for breast cancer early detection in women with no sign or symptom of the disease. It is also used when the symptoms show up or when you have a lump already. Over the years, the mammogram has proven itself to be the most effective screening method of breast cancer early detection. Mammography has the lowest mortality of all other cancer screening methods.

It is advised to do a mammogram first, if you feel a lump around your breast. The major reason for this is because some individuals have 2 sights (bilateral disease) of cancer in the breast. It gets quite tricky sometimes, certain individuals feel they have just a lump, when they actually have 2. This is why a mamography proprocedure is advised, basically to be certain. For those with a single sight (unilateral) in just a single breast, lumpectomy is just as good as undergoing a mastectomy.

Another reason why mammograms are important, is because lumps can be so vague and little, that the individual might not suspect it to be a lump. This is why self breast examination isn't quite the best approach in most cases. There are also certain abnormalities like calcification link, which is very difficult for an individual to feel, and could take years before developing into a lump.

Best time for mammogram screening

A huge percentage of women diagnosed with breast cancer, happens at a very early stage detection. In which case, the tumor is quite little and haven't spread to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body. In most early detection cases, surgery is the best method of treatment.

The issue of what age is best to start mammogram screenings, is still under serious controversial debate. However, most doctors advices an individual start mammogram screenings at the age of 40.

What are breast cancer receptors, and why should we care?

Receptors are tiny proteins on the surface of a cancer cell. Cancers are either hormon receptor-positive or hormone receptor-negative, depending on the proteins present in them. This could be either estrogen or progesterone receptors. These hormones facilitates the growth of cancer cells, this is why cancer cells are collected during a biopsy, so as to know the proteins (receptors) that are present, to help determine if hormonal therapy or chemotherapy would be the best therapy to go with.

These are the 5 Stages of breast cancer

Stage zero

This is more of a pre cancerous condition where the dysfunctional cells aren't invasive yet, but has the potential to be invasive if not properly taken care of. Stage zero breast cancer accounts for approximately 20% of breast cancers. They are also called Ductal Carcinoma in situ DCIS. Could be treated with surgery, radiation and most times hormonal therapy.

Stage 1

In stage 1, the tumor is relatively small, about 2cm in size. Also In this stage, there is no evidence of cancer in the lymph nodes. I.e, the cancer have not started spreading.

Stage 2

In this stage, the tumor is getting a little bit more advanced/threatening. It is larger than that of stage 1. There is little or no evidence of cancer in the lymph nodes.

Stage 3

This is one of the late stages of cancer. In this case, the tumor is larger, about 4-6cm. A vast majority of stage 3 cancer has an evidence of cancer, present in the lymph nodes. An example of stage 3 cancer is inflammatory breast cancer link, where there is an observed redness, swelling or even thickening of the skin.

stage 4

This is the final and life threatening stage. In this stage, the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes and other parts of the body

Lets talk about what causes cancer, its prevention and why early detection is very impimportant

The name cancer, is a generic term basically used to describe a collection of diseases which occur as a result of dysfunctional cells growing out of control. An example of this is breast cancer. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, it is not just a case for women alone, there are also recorded cases of men who develop breast cancer, even though the statistics is pretty low compared to that of women.

Just like every other type of cancer, the cause of breast cancer is unknown. However, there are risk factors associated with breast cancer. Amongst the major risk factors include: Lifestyle (lack of proper exercise, poor nutrition, excessive consumption of processed foods, etc.), Gender, age, family history, radiation exposure, etc.

Early detection is the most important strategy in reducing the risk of having breast cancer. Also, proper observation of these above mentioned risk factors, slims down an individuals chance of having breast cancer. It is important to note that 1/3rd of breast cancer prevention has been traced to observing preventive measures, while 2/3 of prevention has been traced to early detection through screening methods such as mammography.

The best news i'v heard so far in 2018

In my last post, I wrote extensively on the complete extraction of breast cancer from a 49 years old woman from Florida, USA. Her case was that of a recurring breast cancer, and this time, she wasn't responding to conventional treatment. This led her to trying a new therapeutic approach that eventually led to the end of her late-stage breast cancer illness.

Some advancements in breast cancer

mammography-2416942_1280.jpg Public domain via Pixabay, [CCO Creative Commons]

It is important to know the stage of a patient's breast cancer, but not as important as it was in the past. This is due to advancements in technology and also sophistications in therapeutic approaches. Prior to the 21st century, the stage, size, location or wether the cancer had already spread to the lymph nodes, where a very important factor in determining breast cancer treatment strategy or type. I.e, patients that were are at a low risk, which would not need chemotherapy or those that were at a high risk that would require chemotherapy

There are recent sophisticated ways to check the type of treatment strategy to be used on a patient. One of these ways include checking receptors to determine the treatment type to use.

Grade is also another 21st century factor to determine breast cancer treatment, where the cells are observed under a microscope to determine if they are a higher grade(aggressive) or lower grade tumor.

Another recent method involves the thorough screening of cancer cells, to see the tendency of the cancer recurring or not, determining if the patient might do better with chemotherapy, hormonal therapy or radiation.

All these methods and more, are very important to doctors for proper treatment recommendation.

Conclusion

As technology and science advances, the world of Medicine also joins the fast moving train, which eventually leads to discovering new frontiers and therapeutic approach to illnesses. early detection of breast cancer is the best preventive measure to observe, this is why getting a mammography done from the age of 40 is often advised.

Thank you,
written by: @akiripromise.


Reference

[1] About breast cancer

[2] Breast cancer hormone receptor status

[3] Breast cancer mammogram

[4] lumpectomy

[5] Breast cancer overview

[6] Breast cancer types

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Certainly a very detailed discourse on cancer, how They come to be, diagnosis, etc. Resteeming this because it just worths it. Our women need to get informed as they are the most vulnerable.

Regards

@eurogee of @euronation and @steemstem communities

Thanks a lot for stopping by @eurogee
Breast cancer is really a problem in our world today, which is why I am so happy about the recent case of complete extraction

Hi @akiripromise!

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Quite an informative read on a sensitive problem faced by our women. Thanks for sharing such as amazing post!

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