subject: Breast Cancer: Who Do Women Get It? [print this page] Breast Cancer: Who Do Women Get It? Breast Cancer: Who Do Women Get It?
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with breast cancer, it's important to understand some basics: What is breast cancer and how does it happen?
In this article, you can learn about how breast cancer develops, how many people get breast cancer, and what factors can increase risk for getting breast cancer. You also can learn more about signs and symptoms to watch for and how to manage any fears you may have about breast cancer.
Breast cancer is always caused by a genetic abnormality (a "mistake") in the genetic material. About 90% of breast cancers are due to genetic abnormalities that happen as a result of the aging process and the "wear and tear" of life in general. Less than 10% of cancers are due to an abnormality inherited from your mother or father.
Cancer occurs as a result of mutations, or abnormal changes, in the genes responsible for regulating the growth of cells and keeping them healthy.Normally, the cells in our bodies replace themselves through an orderly process of cell growth:
But over time, mutations can "turn on" certain genes and "turn off" others in a cell. That changed cell gains the ability to keep dividing without control or order, producing more cells just like it and forming a tumor.
The term "breast cancer" refers to a malignant tumor that has developed from cells in the breast.
A tumor can be benign (not dangerous to health) or malignant (has the potential to be dangerous). Benign tumors are not considered cancerous: their cells are close to normal in appearance, they grow slowly, and they do not invade nearby tissues or spread to other parts of the body. Malignant tumors are cancerous. Left unchecked, malignant cells eventually can spread beyond the original tumor to other parts of the body.
Surgery is usually the first line of attack against breast cancer. Decisions about surgery depend on many factors. You and your doctor will determine the kind of surgery that's most appropriate for you based on the stage of the cancer, the "personality" of the cancer, and what is acceptable to you in terms of your long-term peace of mind.
Radiation therapy also called radiotherapy is a highly targeted, highly effective way to destroy cancer cells in the breast that may stick around after surgery. Radiation can reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence by about 70%. Despite what many people fear, radiation therapy is relatively easy to tolerate and its side effects are limited to the treated area.
Chemotherapy treatment uses medicine to weaken and destroy cancer cells in the body, including cells at the original cancer site and any cancer cells that may have spread to another part of the body. Chemotherapy, often shortened to just "chemo," is a systemic therapy, which means it affects the whole body by going through the bloodstream.There are quite a few chemotherapy medicines. In many cases, a combination oftwo or more medicines will be used as chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer.
To avoid the perils of breast cancer it is important that, you understand the different types of breast cancer tests, such as mammogram, breast MRI, and biopsy.
While there are steps every person can take to help the body stay as healthy as possible (such as eating a balanced diet, not smoking, limiting alcohol, and exercising regularly), breast cancer is never anyone's fault.
Feeling guilty, or telling yourself that breast cancer happened because of something you or anyone else did, is not productive.
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