What is breast cancer & What are the symptoms of breast cancer?

Breast cancer is one among the foremost common cancers within the world and affects quite two MILLION women a year

Breast cancer is one among the foremost common cancers within the world. annually within the UK there are quite 55,000 new cases, and therefore the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women. In the US, it strikes 266,000 annually and kills 40,000. But what causes it and the way can it's treated?

What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer develops from a cancerous cell which develops within the lining of a duct or lobule in one among the breasts.

When the carcinoma has spread into surrounding breast tissue it's called an 'invasive' carcinoma . Some people are diagnosed with 'carcinoma in situ', where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule.

Most cases develop in women over the age of fifty but younger ladies are sometimes affected. carcinoma can develop in men though this is often rare.

Staging means how big the cancer is and whether it's spread. Stage 1 is that the earliest stage and stage 4 means the cancer has spread to a different a part of the body.

The cancerous cells are graded from low, which suggests a slow growth, to high, which is fast growing. High grade cancers are more likely to return back after they need first been treated.

What causes breast cancer?

A cancerous tumour starts from one abnormal cell. the precise reason why a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. it's thought that something damages or alters certain genes within the cell. This makes the cell abnormal and multiply 'out of control'.

Although carcinoma can develop for no apparent reason, there are some risk factors which will increase the prospect of developing carcinoma , like genetics.

What are the symptoms of breast cancer?

The usual first symptom may be a painless lump within the breast, although most breast lumps aren't cancerous and are fluid filled cysts, which are benign.

The first place that carcinoma usually spreads to is that the lymph nodes within the armpit. If this happens you'll develop a swelling or lump in an armpit.

How is carcinoma diagnosed?

Initial assessment: A doctor examines the breasts and armpits. they'll do tests like a mammography, a special x-ray of the breast tissue which may indicate the likelihood of tumours.

Biopsy: A biopsy is when alittle sample of tissue is faraway from a neighborhood of the body. The sample is then examined under the microscope to seem for abnormal cells. The sample can confirm or rule out cancer.

If you're confirmed to possess carcinoma , further tests could also be needed to assess if it's spread. for instance , blood tests, an ultrasound scan of the liver or a chest x-ray.

How is carcinoma treated?

Treatment options which can be considered include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment. Often a mixture of two or more of those treatments are used.

Surgery: Breast-conserving surgery or the removal of the affected breast counting on the dimensions of the tumour.

Radiotherapy: A treatment which uses high energy beams of radiation focussed on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops cancer cells from multiplying. it's mainly utilized in addition to surgery.

Chemotherapy: A treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer drugs which kill cancer cells, or stop them from multiplying

Hormone treatments: Some sorts of carcinoma are suffering from the 'female' hormone oestrogen, which may stimulate the cancer cells to divide and multiply. Treatments which reduce the extent of those hormones, or prevent them from working, are commonly utilized in people with carcinoma .

How successful is treatment?

The outlook is best in those that are diagnosed when the cancer remains small, and has not spread. Surgical removal of a tumour in an early stage may then provides a good chance of cure.

The routine mammography offered to women between the ages of fifty and 70 mean more breast cancers are being diagnosed and treated at an early stage.