ABOUT THE DISEASE

Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer in women, and if not detected and treated in time, can be fatal. Breast cancer in women below the age of 25 is rare. However if detected and treated in time, women affected with breast cancer lead perfectly healthy life post treatment. Over the course of a lifetime, 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Men can also get breast cancer. But they are 100 times less likely than women to get breast cancer.

Depending upon the size of the tumour and whether it has spread to other parts of the body (lymph nodes and body organs), it is assigned different stages by the doctors ranging from Stage 0 to Stage IV.

SYMPTOMS

At an early stage, there are hardly any symptoms and therefore a regular breast examination is recommended. However at a later stage some of the following symptoms might be noticeable:

• • Breast lump - or lump in the armpits
• • Change in the size, shape, or feel of the breast or nipple
• • Fluid coming from the nipple -- may be bloody, and look like pus
• • Skin ulcer
• • Weight loss

CAUSES

Some of the risk factors include:
- Age-chances increase with increasing age
- Family history of breast cancer
- Genes- sp. BRCA1 and BRCA2
- Hormone replacement therapy
- Radiation exposure

DIAGNOSIS

- Physical examination
- Mammography - to identify the lump
- FNAC (Fine needle aspiration cytology)
- Breast ultrasound
- PET Scan to identify if the disease has spread
- Lymph node biopsy to identify if the disease has spread to the lymph nodes or not

TREATMENT METHODS

Treatment includes a combination of the following based on the Stage of the cancer identified and the age of the patient.

- Surgery- Lumpectomy / Radical Mastectomy.
- Radiation.
- Chemotherapy.
- Medicines, hormone therapy.
- Reconstructive breast surgery.
- Any combination of the above treatments.

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