Posts Tagged ‘cancer’

Many women are forced to deal with the reality of having breast cancer and the chance that they will have to have a breast lumpectomy operation to remove the tumor. This is a terrible ordeal for the ladies to deal with and family support must be there to help the woman with her physical and emotional state.

The chemotherapy used in some of the treatments can be very taxing on a person and will make them tired and exhausted during the initial phases. After this time the cancer is slowed with the treatment so that there will be more time to be used in saving her.

Finding out all the facts about breast cancer and other cancers is as easy as asking your GP next time you see them. They will have all the information you need and councilors to speak to if you would like to talk. Dealing with cancer is a big effort but together as a team we can help beat it for the people we love.

This information is brought to you by the National Breast Cancer Foundation

Breast cancer type is categorized by whether it begins in the ducts or lobules, the organs responsible for breast milk production. Understanding the specific type of breast cancer can help you ask better questions and work with your physicians to get the best breast cancer treatments.

This information is brought to you by the American Cancer Association

The importance of finding breast cancer early

The goal of screening exams for early breast cancer detection is to find cancers before they start to cause symptoms. Screening refers to tests and exams used to find a disease, such as cancer, in people who do not have any symptoms. Early detection means using an approach that allows earlier diagnosis of breast cancer than otherwise might have occurred.

Breast cancers that are found because they are causing symptoms tend to be larger and are more likely to have already spread beyond the breast. In contrast, breast cancers found during screening exams are more likely to be smaller and still confined to the breast. The size of a breast cancer and how far it has spread are some of the most important factors in predicting the prognosis (outlook) of a woman with this disease.

Most doctors feel that early detection tests for breast cancer save many thousands of lives each year, and that many more lives could be saved if even more women and their health care providers took advantage of these tests. Following the American Cancer Society’s guidelines for the early detection of breast cancer improves the chances that breast cancer can be diagnosed at an early stage and treated successfully.

• Breast cancer incidence in women in the United States is 1 in 8 (about 13%).
• In 2008, an estimated 182,460 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 67,770 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.
• About 1,990 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in men in 2008. Less than 1% of all new breast cancer cases occur in men.
• From 2001 to 2004, breast cancer incidence rates in the U.S. decreased by 3.5% per year. One theory is that this decrease was due to the reduced use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) by women after the results of a large study, called the Women’s Health Initiative, were published in 2002. These results suggested a connection between HRT and increased breast cancer risk.
• About 40,480 women in the U.S. are expected to die in 2008 from breast cancer, though death rates have been decreasing since 1990. These decreases are thought to be the result of treatment advances, earlier detection through screening, and increased awareness.
• For women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer besides lung cancer.
• Besides skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among U.S. women. More than 1 in 4 cancers are breast cancer.
• Compared to African American women, white women are slightly more likely to develop breast cancer, but less likely to die of it. One possible reason is that African American women tend to have more aggressive tumors, although why this is the case is not known. Women of other ethnic backgrounds — Asian, Hispanic, and Native American — have a lower risk of developing and dying from breast cancer than white women and African American women.
• As of 2008, there are about 2.5 million women in the U.S. who have survived breast cancer.
• A woman’s risk of breast cancer approximately doubles if she has a first-degree relative (mother, sister, daughter) who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. About 20-30% of women diagnosed with breast cancer have a family history of breast cancer.
• About 5-10% of breast cancers are caused by gene mutations inherited from one’s mother or father. Mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are the most common. Women with these mutations have up to an 80% risk of developing breast cancer during their lifetime, and they often are diagnosed at a younger age (before age 50). An increased ovarian cancer risk is also associated with these genetic mutations. Men with a BRCA1 mutation have a 1% risk of developing breast cancer by age 70 and a 6% risk when they have a BRCA2 mutation.
• About 90% of breast cancers are due not to heredity, but to genetic abnormalities that happen as a result of the aging process and life in general.
• The most significant risk factors for breast cancer are gender (being a woman) and age (growing older).