Selasa, 28 April 2009

Signs and Symptoms of Breast Cancer

By Erlinda Carla B. De Guzman-Mangila

It is very important for each and every one of us to know the signs and symptoms of breast cancer for us to be able to know what will be possible and most effective way to overcome such. Well, the first particular sign and symptom of this kind of disease is a lump that is different from the surrounding tissues around the breast. It is said that if a woman felt a lump in her breast, then it is a cancer, more than 80% of breast cancer cases are discovered in this manner, this is based on the Merck Manual. And the first objective indications or medical signs of breast cancer is discovered by a mammogram or is detected by a doctor. The lymph nodes located at the armpit are where the lumps are found and or the collarbone can also be a sign of breast cancer.

Signs and symptoms of breast cancer other than a lump may also include changes that may in the breast's size and breast's shape; also, dimples appear in the skin, inversion of nipples, or a single-nipple discharge that is spontaneous. Pain is not a reliable tool to determine the presence or the absence of a breast cancer, but it can also be a sign of other breast-related health problems like the mastodynia.

If a breast cancer cells enter the dermal lymphatic by force, the small lymph vessels in breast's skin, the inflammatory breast cancer is the inflammation that resembles on the skin presentation. The signs and symptoms of the inflammatory breast cancer comprise pain, swelling of the breast, over all warmth and redness of the breast and also the texture of the skin that looks like an orange peel and is called or referred to as "peau d'orange"

Another complex symptom that is reported on this kind of disease is the Paget's disease of the breast. And this disorder is known as the eczamatoid, in this manner, the skin changes in color, it will be red and the nipple skin will have a mild flaking texture. As the Paget's disease of the breast moved forward, the signs may consist of itchiness and the increase of the sensitivity of the skin, burning and it will be painful too. Discharge from the nipple may also occur. Actually almost half of the women who are diagnosed with Paget's are also suffering from lump in the breast.

The cancer that is spread further than the original organ is a metastatic disease. The metastatic breast cancer can cause signs and symptoms depending on the metastasis location. Metastasis's common location may be found in the bone, in the liver, in the lungs and in the brain. The weight loss that is unexplainable can be sometimes the indication of a disease, the signs can also be determined as fevers and chills. Also, a bone and joint pains can be a sign sometimes, as well as the jaundice or a neurological signs. But these signs are not that specific, because it can also be a sign and symptom of any other illnesses.

Always remember that most signs and symptoms of breast disorder is not really the best representation. The mastitis and fibro adenoma of the breast are the benign breast diseases and are more common causes and signs of breast disorder. And both patient and the doctor must take seriously the new development of signs and symptoms that may occur, because there may be instances that breast diseases may occur at an early age too.

Source : Ezinearticles

Women, beware lump in your breast

THE women need to be aware if you find a lump in the breast. Therefore, the lump could be one of the symptoms of breast cancer. To determine whether the lump is malignant or not, then the patient should immediately consult with mammography.

"Public awareness of the importance of early detection of breast cancer should be improved through counseling. Breast cancer is curable if detected early through clinical examination and mammography.

Breast cancer is a malignancy originating from the glands, lymph channels and supporting breast tissue. In recent years, the age groups of young people with more, even under the age of 30 years. This triggered a pattern of unhealthy living such as smoking and penchant for fast food consumption.

There are several symptoms of this disease could be identified that the emergence of a lump in the breast and a big change and shape the breast. Other symptoms are, came out abnormal fluid from the nipples, the fluid may be pus, blood, fluid or dilute out the mother's milk are not pregnant or nursing. In addition, the skin, the nipple and areola into a curved or creased.

Higher stadium, then the size of the lump is greater. If a new form of lump and has not spread to other organs, the treatment of lump simply by lifting it as soon as possible before getting bigger, Sutjipto said. If you've entered the fourth stage, the lump or a malignant tumor that will spread to other organs.

"The earlier stadiumnya, chances for recovery or life expectancy is also increasing. In the early stages, breast cancer does not cause any symptoms, but along with the development of disease
symptoms that will cause changes in the breast. For that we need a good regular checks with breast self-examination, examination by medical workers and a mammogram.


Kamis, 16 April 2009

Breast Cancer Stages

Breast cancer is divided into five stages. Stages 0-2 are considered "early", stage 3 considered "advanced", and stage 4 "late". Staging categories are important for predicting future prognosis, and determine optimal treatment recommendations.

Stage 0 is DCIS, or ductal carcinoma in situ. Breast cancer arises from the cells that line the milk ducts. When the cancerous cells are still contained inside the duct, it is diagnosed as DCIS. This can only be determined by a pathologist doctor looking at the tissue under a microscope. In general, when the DCIS lesion is small, there is no need to suspect cancer spread outside the breast.

Stage 1 is invasive or infiltrating cancer. Here, the cancer cells have broken through the duct wall and are found outside the ducts as well. In this case, doctors need to determine whether the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. Stage 1 breast cancer must be equal or smaller than 2 cm in its invasive component, AND have no spread to lymph nodes. Often, the tissue removed at surgery contain DCIS in addition to the invasive cancer. However, only the dimensions of the invasive cancer count. If the patient needs to have multiple surgeries and the invasive cancer is found at more than one operation, usually the dimensions are added together to arrive at the final size.

Stage 2 has two subcategories. In stage 2A, the invasive cancer can be 2 cm or less and has spread to axillary (armpit) lymph node(s), i.e. positive node(s). Also, the invasive cancer can be as large as 5 cm, but has not spread to lymph nodes, i.e. negative nodes. In stage 2B, the invasive cancer is between 2cm and up to 5 cm and has spread to nodes. Here, cancer may measure even larger than 5 cm if it has not spread to nodes.

Stage 3 includes invasive cancer larger than 5 cm that has spread to lymph nodes. Also, cancer of any size that heavily involves the axillary lymph nodes to the point that these nodes are bulky and stuck together or stuck to other structures in the axilla (armpit) are in this stage. Tumor spread to lymph nodes either above or below the clavicle bone, or to nodes underneath the sternum (breast bone), also falls into this category. Furthermore, if the cancer of any size is attached to the chest wall (pectoralis muscle and/or ribs), it qualifies as stage 3. Inflammatory cancer, where the skin of the breast is red and swollen, is classified in this stage, regardless of size.

Stage 4 is invasive cancer found outside the breast and axillary lymph nodes, or "metastatic" to distant sites. At this stage, it does not matter how large the primary cancer in the breast is. Nor does it matter whether axillary/clavicle/breast bone lymph nodes have cancer or not. The most common sites for metastasis for breast cancer are bone and liver, followed by lungs and brain. Standard testing include bone scan and CT scan of the chest, abdomen and pelvis. More recently, PET scan is often done to look for cancer spread. Sometimes, a brain MRI or CT is also useful.

Source : Ezinearticles, Dr. Mai Brooks

Dr. Mai Brooks is a surgical oncologist/general surgeon, with expertise in early detection and prevention of cancer.