Breast Cancer

 

Breast pain can be a symptom of cancer. If you have any symptoms that worry you, be sure to see your doctor right away.
Some warning signs of breast cancer are—

New lump in the breast or underarm (armpit).
Thickening or swelling of part of the breast.
Irritation or dimpling of breast skin.
Redness or flaky skin in the nipple area or the breast.
Pulling in of the nipple or pain in the nipple area.
Nipple discharge other than breast milk, including blood.
Any change in the size or the shape of the breast.
Pain in any area of the breast.
Keep in mind that these symptoms can happen with other conditions that are not cancer.
Types of breast cancer:
There are two categories that reflect the nature of breast cancer:
Noninvasive:
Noninvasive (in situ) cancer is cancer that hasn’t spread from the original tissue. This is referred to as stage 0.
Invasive:
Invasive (infiltrating) cancer is cancer that’s spread to surrounding tissues. These are categorized as stages 1, 2, 3, or 4.

If you have any signs or symptoms that worry you, be sure to see your doctor right away.

What Is a Normal Breast?
No breast is typical. What is normal for you may not be normal for another woman. Most women say their breasts feel lumpy or uneven. The way your breasts look and feel can be affected by getting your period, having children, losing or gaining weight, and taking certain medications. Breasts also tend to change as you age. For more information, see the National Cancer Institute’s Breast Changes and Conditions.

you also may see or hear certain words used to describe the stage of the breast cancer:

• Local: The cancer is confined within the breast.
• Regional: The lymph nodes, primarily those in the armpit, are involved.
• Distant: The cancer is found in other parts of the body as well.

• tumor grade: a measurement of how much the cancer cells look like normal cells
• Enstroge- progestronestatus: do the cancer cells have receptors for the hormones estrogen and progesterone?
• Her2 status: are the cancer cells making too much of the HER2 protein?
• onco type DX score:if the cancer is estrogen-receptor-positive, HER2-negative, and there is no cancer in the lymph nodes

Duration of breast cancer:

Breast cancer has to divide 30 times before it can be felt. Up to the 28th cell division, neither you nor your doctor can detect it by hand. With most breast cancers, each division takes one to two months, so by the time you can feel a cancerous lump, the cancer has been in your body for two to five years.
Treatments for breast cancer:
Depending on the type and stage of cancer, treatments can vary. But there are some common practices doctors and specialists use to combat breast cancer:
Lumpectomy:
A lumpectomy is when your doctor removes the tumor while leaving your breast intact.
Mastectomy:
A mastectomy is when your doctor surgically removes all of your breast tissue including the tumor and connecting tissue.
Chemotherapy:
Chemotherapy is the most common cancer treatment, and it involves the use of anticancer drugs. These drugs interfere with cells’ ability to reproduce.
Radiation:
Radiation uses radiation beams to treat cancer directly.
Hormone:
Hormone and targeted therapy can be used when either genes or hormones play a part in the cancer’s growth.
Signs of breast cancer recurrence
Despite initial treatment and success, breast cancer can sometimes come back. This is called recurrence. Recurrence happens when a small number of cells escape the initial treatment.

Symptoms of a recurrence in the same place as the first breast cancer are very similar to symptoms of the first breast cancer. They include:

a new breast lump
changes to the nipple
redness or swelling of the breast

a new thickening near the mastectomy scar
If breast cancer comes back regionally, it means that the cancer has returned to the lymph nodes or near to the original cancer but not exactly the same place.