… Continued from Newsletter Edition 11
In prior editions, we have dived into the dangers, and causes of breast cancer.
We tackled what breast cancer is …
The Kinds of Breast Cancer…
Some risk factors for Breast Cancer….
In this edition, we shall be considering some other important facts about breast cancer as well as its signs and symptoms.
Happy insightful learning..
Risk Factors You Can Change
Being physically active can help lower your risk of getting breast cancer.
Not being physically active: Women who are not physically active have a higher risk of getting breast cancer.
Being overweight or having obesity after menopause: Older women who are overweight or obese have a higher risk of getting breast cancer than those at a healthy weight.
Taking hormones. Some forms of hormone replacement therapy (those that include both estrogen and progesterone) taken during menopause can raise the risk for breast cancer when taken for more than five years. Certain oral contraceptives (birth control pills) also have been found to raise breast cancer risk.
Reproductive history: Having the first pregnancy after age 30, not breastfeeding, and never having a full-term pregnancy can raise breast cancer risk.
Drinking alcohol: Studies show that a woman’s risk for breast cancer increases with the more alcohol she drinks.
Research suggests that other factors such as smoking, being exposed to chemicals that can cause cancer, and changes in other hormones due to night shift working also may increase breast cancer risk.
Who Is at High Risk for Breast Cancer?
“Having a family history increases cancer risk in both genders.”
This blog post explains how breast cancer can be passed down through your family, increasing risk for both men and women.
If you have a strong family history of breast cancer or inherited changes in your BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, you may have a high risk of getting breast cancer. You may also have a high risk for ovarian cancer.
Talk to your doctor about ways to reduce your risk, such as medicines that block or decrease estrogen in your body, or surgery.
Some Key facts about breast cancer
- Breast cancer caused 670,000 deaths globally in 2022.
- Roughly half of all breast cancers occur in women with no specific risk factors other than sex and age.
- Breast cancer was the most common cancer in women in 157 countries out of 185 in 2022.
- Breast cancer occurs in every country in the world.
- Approximately 0.5–1% of breast cancers occur in men.
Overview
Breast cancer is a disease in which abnormal breast cells grow out of control and form tumors. If left unchecked, the tumors can spread throughout the body and become fatal. Breast cancer cells begin inside the milk ducts and/or the milk-producing lobules of the breast. The earliest form (in situ) is not life-threatening and can be detected in early stages. Cancer cells can spread into nearby breast tissue (invasion). This creates tumors that cause lumps or thickening.
It is important to note that Invasive cancers can spread to nearby lymph nodes or other organs (metastasize). And metastasis can be life-threatening and fatal.
Treatment of breast cancer is based on the person, the type of cancer, and its spread. Treatment combines surgery, radiation therapy, and medications.
Scope of the problem
In 2022, there were 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer and 670,000 deaths globally. Breast cancer occurs in every country of the world in women at any age after puberty but with increasing rates in later life.
Global estimates reveal striking inequities in the breast cancer burden according to human development. For instance, in countries with a very high Human Development Index (HDI), 1 in 12 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime and 1 in 71 women die of it.
In contrast, in countries with a low HDI; while only 1 in 27 women is diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, 1 in 48 women will die from it.
Who is at risk?
Female gender is the strongest breast cancer risk factor. Approximately 99% of breast cancers occur in women and 0.5–1% of breast cancers occur in men. The treatment of breast cancer in men follows the same principles of management as for women.
Certain factors increase the risk of breast cancer including increasing age, obesity, harmful use of alcohol, family history of breast cancer, history of radiation exposure, reproductive history (such as age that menstrual periods began and age at first pregnancy), tobacco use, and postmenopausal hormone therapy. Approximately half of breast cancers develop in women who have no identifiable breast cancer risk factor other than gender (female) and age (over 40 years).
Family history of breast cancer increases the risk of breast cancer, but most women diagnosed with breast cancer do not have a known family history of the disease. Lack of a known family history does not necessarily mean that a woman is at reduced risk. And, Certain inherited high penetrance gene mutations greatly increase breast cancer risk, the most dominant being mutations in the genes BRCA1, BRCA2, and PALB-2. Women found to have mutations in these major genes may consider risk reduction strategies such as surgical removal of both breasts or chemoprevention strategies.
Signs and symptoms
Most people will not experience any symptoms when the cancer is still early hence the importance of early detection.
Breast cancer can have combinations of symptoms, especially when it is more advanced. Symptoms of breast cancer can include:
- a breast lump or thickening, often without pain
- change in size, shape, or appearance of the breast
- dimpling, redness, pitting, or other changes in the skin
- change in nipple appearance or the skin surrounding the nipple (areola)
- abnormal or bloody fluid from the nipple.
Stay tuned for the next and final enlightening piece of this series.
Source: www.cdc.gov , www.who.int , www.nyahomedical.com
