Cancer 101: 7 Signs You Might Have Breast Cancer | According to data obtained by the World Cancer Research Fund International, breast cancer is the most common cancer found in women. Worldwide, breast cancer represented 25.4 % of all cancers diagnosed in women in 2018.
By definition, breast cancer is the abnormal growth occurring, or at least originating, in your breasts. Although considered a “women’s disease,” breast cancer can and does occur in men as well. Medical researchers, however, estimate that only 1 % of male cancer diagnoses are for breast cancer.
Breast Cancer Risk Factors
In addition to being female, breast cancer risk factors include the following:
- Being age 50 or older, if you’re a 50-year-old female, your risk of developing breast cancer is 10 times higher than when you were 30 years old
- Being obese
- Drinking more than a moderate amount of alcohol
- Having a family history of breast cancer, particularly by a close relative, such as your mother, sibling or grandmother
Hereditary factors contribute to only 5-10 % of breast cancers. The most common factors are mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene that can be passed down through your family’s generations.
Signs and Symptoms of Breast Cancer
Even if you’re not at high risk for developing breast cancer, you will do well to be alert to any of its following seven signs:
- Swelling or a shape change in your breast(s), whether or not you feel an actual lump
- Pain in your breast(s) or nipple(s)
- Redness, thickening or scaliness of the skin of your breast(s) or nipple(s)
- “Orange peel” dimpling or other irritation of your breast(s)
- Retraction of one or both of your nipples
- A discharge coming from one or both of your nipples, especially if this occurs at times when nothing is squeezing your breasts
- Lymph node swelling under your arm(s) or in your collarbone area
How Breast Cancer Is Diagnosed
The earlier you and your physician find your breast cancer, the better chance you have of surviving it. To this end, the importance of conducting a monthly self-exam of your breasts cannot be overstated.
If you’re age 40-44, you should consider having a mammogram. If you’re age 45-54, medical professionals recommend that you have an annual mammogram. At age 55 and beyond, you can switch to biannual mammogrammes, and these should continue for the rest of your life, or at least until you’ve reached the age where you’re statistically not expected to continue living for more than 10 years longer before dying a natural death.
Additional diagnostic helps include a thorough physical exam by your physician, an ultrasound, and an MRI. If any of these suggest breast cancer, the only way to make an absolute diagnosis is by using a biopsy.
Breast Cancer Types
There are various types of breast cancer, including the following:
- Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), the most common type, starts in your milk duct and spreads into additional breast tissue
- Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC), a common type that starts in your milk glands and spreads into additional breast tissue
- Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC), a rare type that evidences itself not by a breast lump but by such things as red, thick, inflamed, pitted, itchy, tender and swollen breast skin
Breast Cancer Treatment and Prognosis
Depending on the type of breast cancer & how far it’s progressed, you have a number of treatment options, including the following:
- Chemotherapy
- Radiation therapy
- Targeted therapies
- Hormone therapy
- Lumpectomy or a mastectomy surgery
Breast cancer survival rates are high, with up to 99 % of women surviving certain kinds of breast cancer detected early on.
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