Breast Cancer - Symptoms, Stages, Signs, Treatments
With the amount of
research that has gone into breast cancer, there
are certain facts that have been established.
It is these facts that have allowed one to recognize
the disease at its stages and take appropriate
measures. In view of the identifications that
have become possible, one must assert that symptoms,
stages, signs and treatments are the particular
categories that are outlined.
Symptoms & Signs:
Initially there is perhaps no other known way
of detecting breast
cancer aside from the self test method. This
involves checking one’s self for lumps in
the breast as well as the surrounding regions
like the arm pit.
Checking the armpit reveals if there is cancer
in the lymph nodes that are located in that area.
If there are swellings or lumps detected in the
breast or in the armpit there is cause for alarm.
This is because cancer in the breast starts off
as lumps that grow in size. However, it is worth
noting that 86% lumps turn out to be harmless.
In addition to lumps being detected in the breast
other signs of danger are visible changes in the
breast such as the change in shape, size color
and texture.
Breasts that develop the following
are considered to be warnings signals of stage
breast cancer:
- formation of dips
- development of a reddish color
- inversion of nipples or change in shape of
the nipples
- discharge from the nipples
In addition to the above signs and symptoms
of breast cancer in its infancy, some people
do experience physical discomfort.
Stages:
Stage 0 is a stage where breast cancer is in the
form of a lump in the breast and is limited to
the duct or tissue to which it is attached
Stage 1 and 2 include the cancer spreading beyond
the tissue in which it was contained Stage 1 basically
encompasses a tumor that is spread nothing more
than an inch across the cancer cells, and is limited
to the breast; in this stage cancer has not spread
to other parts of the chest.
Stage 2 means that the tumor is under an inch
across the cancer cells, which means that cancer
has spread significantly. Also, in this stage
the cancerous tumor may have spread beyond the
breast and into surrounding areas such as the
lymph nodes.
Stage 3 that is known as locally advanced cancer.
In this stage the tumor may have enlarged significantly
and spread way put of the breast into the lymph
nodes and to the breast bone.
The severer stage of cancer is stage 4, which
is the stage within which cancer has spread to
other parts of the body. In this stage, a patient
has to begin using therapies depending on what
the physicians recommend.
Treatments
for breast cancer include chemotherapy and
hormonal therapy. Both these have different courses
of action and each of them has had their levels
of success. However, of the two, one can say that
chemotherapy is the more difficult one to go through.
This is because the patient has to cope with several
changes in his or her body as reactions are common.
Examples of these reactions are hair loss as well
as significant discomfort.
In addition to chemotherapy and hormonal therapy,
there are other treatments that have had their
levels of success as well. However, they have
not been backed up by sufficient scientific data. |
