What is breast cancer?

breast cancer

What is breast cancer?

Definition

What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that forms in the breast tissue. Malignant tumors are a collection of cancer cells that develop rapidly into surrounding tissue or spread to more distant parts of the body. This disease occurs almost always in women but can occur also in men.

Cancer cells can form in fatty tissues in the breast, mammary glands (lobules), or in the milk ducts (ducts)

How often does this disease occur?

This type of cancer is most common in women. This cancer occurs in 1 of 8 women in the world. This can be overcome by lowering your risk factors. Consult your doctor for more information.

Characteristics & symptoms

What are the characteristics of breast cancer?

The most distinctive features of breast cancer are the appearance of breast lumps. Lumps of breast cancer features have a hard texture with a border that is not clear and the surface is uneven.

Lumps also continue to stay 8 to 10 days after menstruation. If the lumps feature breast cancer close to the nipple, it will be seen that the nipple is drawn inward and rather difficult to move (sticky).

In addition to the appearance of lumps, signs and characteristics of breast cancer that you can recognize others are:

• Change the size, shape, or appearance of the breast.
• Changes in the shape of the nipple.
• The pain in the breast that never goes away, even when you have entered the menstrual period next month. Even so, some women also have no pain or pain in her breasts.
• Putting out a clear, brown, or yellow liquid.
• Putting suddenly reddened and swollen unknown cause.
• Swelling around the armpits caused due to enlarged lymph nodes in the area.
• Venous veins seen in the breast, resulting in the veins in the breast clearly visible.
• In the later stages began to appear abnormalities in the skin of the breast (such as orange peel or skin to redness), sometimes the skin is also so curved like a dimple because attracted by a lump.

If you experience or suspect any of the symptoms and characteristics of breast cancer as mentioned above, you should immediately consult a doctor. This is done so that you get the right handling according to your condition. With responsiveness to the characteristics of breast cancer, then your chances of recovery from this disease are also getting bigger.

There may be some signs or symptoms of breast cancer that have not been mentioned. If you want to know the characteristics of breast cancer further, consult your doctor.

When should I see a doctor?

You should immediately see a doctor if you suspect has one of the signs or characteristics of breast cancer as mentioned above. Breast self-examination independently and regularly is important to do.

Generally, early-stage breast cancer symptoms do not cause pain. If you feel the symptoms of other breast cancer, immediately go to the doctor without waiting for the pain to appear. Early detection increases the chances of a breast cancer patient's life.

Cause

What causes breast cancer?

The cause of breast cancer is not known for sure. Even so, experts believe if the cause of breast cancer because breast cells develop abnormally and form a lump in the breast. These lumps can spread to surrounding tissues and to other parts of the body.

There are several conditions that could be factors causing breast cancer. Doctors estimate that about 5-10 percent of breast cancers are associated with the mutations in genes 1 (BRCA1) and gen 2 (BRCA2) inherited in the family. So if you have a history of breast cancer in the family, you should check your blood to detect the gene.

In addition to gene mutations, experts also agree that a medical history and a person's lifestyle can be a factor that causes breast cancer.

Risk factors

Who is at risk for this disease?

Here are some risk factors that can be a cause of breast cancer are:

• Gender. Women are 100 times more breast diagnosed than men. Having large breasts, early menstruation, and old age menopause can also be other risk factors for breast cancer.
• Age. Old age is a major risk factor that causes breast cancer and other chronic diseases. As you get older, your risk is higher.
• Family history. This means if there are members of your family who are in the blood (mothers, children, or siblings) who have cancer in the breast, you also have high potential to experience similar things.

In addition to some of the things already mentioned above, according to the American Cancer Society, lifestyle can also be a factor causing breast cancer such as obesity, alcoholics, taking birth control pills, having the first child in old age, no children, using hormone replacement therapy.

Consult a doctor to find out more information related to other factors that cause this condition.

Medication & Treatment

The information provided is not a substitute for medical advice. ALWAYS consult your doctor.

What are the commonly used breast cancer drugs?

Your doctor determines therapy as a breast cancer drug based on the following factors:

•     Type of cancer in the breast
•     Stage of cancer in the breast
•     The size of cancer in the breast
•     Sensitivity of cancer cells to hormones
•     Your overall health condition

There are 5 types of standard therapies that doctors can do as breast cancer drugs, including:

1. Surgery

• Conservative surgery, which lifts the cancer cells along with the involved lymph nodes.
• Total mastectomy, ie lifting all breast cancer.
• Modified radical mastectomy (ie modified radical mastectomy), which removes all breast cancer, lymph nodes under the armpits, along the muscles of the chest, and sometimes some chest wall muscles.

2. Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy is cancer therapy using high-powered X-rays targeted to kill cancer cells or inhibit cancer cell growth. This therapy is generally performed regularly for women at high risk after undergoing a mastectomy procedure.

3. Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy, ie cancer therapy uses drugs to inhibit cancer cell growth. This therapy can be performed before surgery to shrink the tumor before it is removed. In addition, this therapy can also be performed after surgery to prevent tumor growth back.

4. Hormone therapy

Hormone therapy is a cancer therapy by inhibiting the work of hormones and prevent the development of cancer cells. This therapy is effective only in hormone-sensitive breast cancer. Your doctor will do a check to determine the type of cancer in your breast.

5. Target therapy

Target therapy is a therapy that uses drugs or other chemicals to identify and attack specific cancer cells without killing normal cells. This therapy includes:

•     Monoclonal antibodies
•     Tyrosine kinase inhibitors
•     Cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors)

The therapy used may be a combination of several therapies. Consult your doctor for the right treatment option for you.

A wide selection of breast cancer drugs are used in chemotherapy

If you have symptoms of breast cancer in the early stages, there are several types of chemotherapy drugs that you can consume. Early-stage breast cancer drugs commonly used in chemotherapy include anthracyclines (such as doxorubicin / Adriamycin® and epirubicin / Ellence®) and taxanes (such as paclitaxel / Taxol® and docetaxel / Taxotere®). It can also be used in combination with certain other drugs, such as fluorouracil (5-FU), cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan®), and carboplatin.

While advanced breast cancer drugs that are often used in chemotherapy include:

•     Docetaxel
•     Paclitaxel
•     Platinum Agents (cisplatin, carboplatin)
•     Vinorelbine (Navelbine®)
•     Capecitabine (Xeloda®)
•     Liposomal doxorubicin (Doxil®)
•     Gemcitabine (Gemzar®)
•     Mitoxantrone
•     Ixabepilone (Ixempra®)
•     Albumin-bound paclitaxel (catch-paclitaxel or Abraxane®)
•     Eribulin (Halaven®)

There may be some other breast cancer drugs not mentioned above. Always consult a doctor about breast cancer drugs that you consume. Basically breast cancer drugs will depend on the age, condition, and development of cancer cells. That's why, always consult a doctor related breast cancer drug that suits your needs.

Treatment at home

What are the lifestyle changes that can be done to overcome this disease?

The following lifestyle and home remedies can help you overcome breast cancer:

• Healthy lifestyle. A healthy diet and regular exercise are important. You can start by reducing alcohol consumption and quitting smoking.
• Healthy diet. Consumption of good nutrition is very important. You will find it difficult to hold food in the stomach because the therapy you receive can cause nausea or change your taste sensation. This can help you to eat smaller and more frequent meals a day.
• Regular exercise. Cancer can cause prolonged limp and will not improve by resting. Regular exercise can help you relieve weakness. You can start by walking and choosing a sport that's comfortable for you.

Prevention

How to prevent breast cancer?

A powerful way to prevent this disease is to avoid all the risk factors cause. In addition, alerting the symptoms of breast cancer with early detection is also an important step to prevent this disease.

Here are some ways of early detection to be aware of breast cancer symptoms that you can do.

1. Check your own breasts

The easiest step to find out the symptoms of breast cancer is by breast self-examination or BSE. The goal is to check the lump in the breast. You can do this check at home on a regular basis. Regular checks will help you to recognize normal breast tissue textures.

Therefore, if one day you feel there is something unusual in the breast, you can immediately see a doctor. In this way, you will be able to easily detect breast cancer symptoms.

The best time to check your breasts is a few days after your menstrual cycle is over. Because hormonal changes can affect your shape and feelings toward the breast, the best check is when your breasts are in normal status.

2. Mammography

In addition to BSE, you can perform mammography checks regularly to detect the presence or absence of cancer cells in the breast. This examination is important to know the symptoms of early breast cancer. Mammography itself is an image scanning technique using low dose x-rays to detect and diagnose cancer in the breast.

This procedure is generally mandatory for women over the age of 40. However, if you or your family have a history of cancer in the breast, your doctor may recommend to perform this examination early and more often.

When doing a memmogram, your breasts will be affixed to the X-ray scanner. Then, a compressor will squeeze your breasts down to flatten the tissues to show a clearer picture of your breasts.

For those of you who are the first time doing this procedure, you may feel a little pain or discomfort. But do not worry, the pain and discomfort will not last long.

During the procedure, your doctor will check the results of the image displayed on the screen of the scanner and ask the radiologist to take some additional pictures if the existing results look less clear or require further examination. Do not panic, it is common to do.

3. Lifestyle changes

Some lifestyle changes that can help prevent cancer in the breast, namely:

• Limit your alcohol consumption. Consumption of alcohol is not more than one glass per heart. Better yet, stop consuming alcohol completely.
• Regular exercise. Exercise moderate intensity regularly at least 30 minutes every day. It can start with just a leisurely stroll, cycling, jogging, and so on. If necessary, consult a physician related to the sport that suits your condition.
• Limit post-menopausal hormone therapy. The combination of hormone therapy can increase the risk of getting cancer in the breast. That's why, talk back to your doctor about the benefits and risks of hormonal exposure.
• Healthy weight. Try to gain healthy weight and ideal. If you need to lose a lot of weight, ask your doctor about a healthy strategy to achieve this. Basically the key to losing weight is just reduce calorie intake and increase exercise.
• Healthy diet. Food intake in fact also plays an important role to prevent this cancer. Therefore, pay attention to your daily food intake. Eat foods with balanced nutrition from fruits and vegetables and avoid foods that contain high fat.

If you have any questions, consult your doctor for the best solution of your problem.

Share this post