by Christobel Rajesh

Created on: March 19, 2008   Last Updated: June 25, 2009

Breast cancer is a major health problem in the United States. Mortality rate from breast cancer has remained unchanged for the last 50 years, suggesting that the current treatments with surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy have produced only modest improvements in overall survival. At present, there is no cure for breast cancer but if it is identified and treated early the results are better.

Current statistics show that the lifetime risk of developing breast cancer is 1 in 8 women. If you have any of the following risk factors, make sure you do regular breast examination and go for regular mammograms.

1. A personal history of breast cancer.

2. First degree relatives of women with breast cancer.

3. Early menarche.

4. Nulliparity and late maternal age at first birth.

5. Late menopause.

6. History of benign breast disease.

7. Exposure to ionizing radiation.

8. Obesity.

9. Usage of Oral contraceptives.

10.Hormone replacement therapy.

11.Alcohol intake.

Breast cancers can occur anywhere in the breast, but the majority occur in the upper outer quadrant and more commonly in the left breast. The lesions are usually painless, fixed rather than mobile and are hard with irregular borders. Dimpling of the breast and nipple retraction are other symptoms that are noted during the initial stage. However, pain with nipple discharge is the classical symptom of breast cancer in later stage. Metastasis to skin is manifested by ulcerating and fungating lesions.

Diagnosis is made by fine needle aspiration or open biopsy of the breast tissue. Breast cancers are staged depending upon the tumor size, nodal involvement and metastasis. The different types of breast cancers are infiltrating ductal carcinoma, infiltrating lobular carcinoma, medullary carcinoma, mucinous carcinoma, tubular ductal cancer, inflammatory carcinoma, Paget's disease and in situ breast carcinoma.

Treatment of breast cancer includes surgical management (partial mastectomy, quadrantectomy, modified radical mastectomy, radical mastectomy), radiation therapy, chemotherapy (adriamycin, cytoxan, methotrexate, 5-flurouracil, vinblastine, vincistine) and hormonal therapy (halotestin, diethylstilbesterol, prednisone, cytadren, megace, tamoxifen). There are reconstructive breast surgeries like breast hypertrophy, reduction mammoplasty, breast uplift procedures like augmentation mammoplasty and prophylactic mastectomy.

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