Health Information Center

Surgery is typically the first line of assault against breast cancer. This part makes clear the various types of surgery.

As a woman with early-stage breast cancer (DCIS or Stage I, IIA, IIB, or IIIA) you might be able to decide which type of breast surgery to have. Frequently, your selection is between breast-sparing surgery (surgery that removes the cancer and leaves most of the breast) and a mastectomy (surgery that gets rid of the whole breast). Examination demonstrates that women with early-stage breast cancer who have breast-sparing surgery together with radiation therapy live as long as those who have a mastectomy. The majority women with the disease will lead long, healthy lives subsequent to treatment.

Treatment for breast cancer typically starts some weeks following diagnosis. In these weeks, you ought to meet with a surgeon, learn the details regarding your surgery options, and consider what is significant to you. Afterward decide which type of surgery to have. Continue reading ‘The Types and Options of Breast Cancer Surgery’ »

All women wish to avoid cancer, and breast cancer in particular because of extreme consequences that in modern treatment, usually involves radical surgery and chemotherapy.

Regrettably, breast cancer is all too common and one of the most serious causes of women’s fatalities through disease in Australia and the US. Contemporary methods of orthodox medicine are no guarantee of a permanent cure. In fact it is generally considered that a patient has a limited future following the most severe treatment. There has been no real success in curing by chemicals and radiation in spite of efforts in research to find an answer.

In contrast, the naturopathic approach is to encourage the natural powers of healing to do their best by reducing the negative factors that result in storage of toxins in the body. If left to accumulate, these in time can irritate the cells into abnormal behaviour and lead to cancer. In conjunction with improving elimination of toxins, we must provide the finest nutritional substances needed to restore balance and perfect health. This constituted the simple principle that can be applied to all diseases, including treatment of cancer. Continue reading ‘We Can Prevent Breast Cancer’ »

In the last article, I discussed how I found out I had breast cancer. I talked about how my family and I reacted. In this article, I will discuss the treatments and how we all pulled through the year from Hell.

Next Step: Lymph Nodes
After having the lumpectomy and finding out it was cancer, my doctor told me we need to check my lymph nodes. First, I had to go get a simple scan to determine where they were. What she didn’t tell me was I would need to lie perfectly still while they shoved a needle into my breast and squirted painful nuclear medicine in.

It seems, to locate the lymph nodes, someone has got to insert nuclear medicine into the site. Then they use a machine to see where the medicine goes. This takes a few minutes but is very freaky thing. Then, they mark you up for the surgery the next day. Continue reading ‘Breast Cancer – Diagnosed at 32, My Story Part 2 – The Mastectomy’ »

The breasts sit on the chest muscles that cover the ribs. Each breast is made of 15 to 20 lobes. Lobes contain many smaller lobules. Lobules contain groups of tiny glands that can produce milk. Milk flows from the lobules through thin tubes called ducts to the nipple. The nipple is in the center of a dark area of skin called the areola. Fat fills the spaces between the lobules and ducts.

Breast cancer incidence is much higher in industrialised Western countries, whether in Europe or North America, than in developing countries. North American women have the highest incidence of breast cancer in the world. Among women in the U.S., breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second-most common cause of cancer death (after lung cancer). Women in the U.S. have a 1 in 8 (12.5%) lifetime chance of developing invasive breast cancer and a 1 in 35 (3%) chance of breast cancer causing their death. In 2007, breast cancer was expected to cause 40,910 deaths in the U.S. (7% of cancer deaths; almost 2% of all deaths)

Continue reading ‘Information on Breast Cancer’ »

Researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia have discovered that the HPV vaccine may be effective in preventing breast cancer, which affects over a million women a year worldwide.

In a new article published in the British Journal of Cancer, the experts reveal that they conducted studies of breast cells and found that there were several strains of HPV present which are known to have a high risk of initiating cancer of the cervix.

A team from UNSW School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, led by visiting professor James Lawson, declared that there was a presence of high-risk HPV in the nuclei of breast cancer epithelial cells in 21 per cent of 14 invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) breast cancer specimens. Continue reading ‘Cervical Cancer Vaccine May Stop Breast Cancer’ »

Causes of breast cancer involve both, environmental as well as genetic factors. One of the most important factors involved is gender. Women are at 100 times more risk than men to contract breast cancer. Though it can develop at any age, the probability of developing it increases with age. Genetic factors are a major cause for developing breast cancer. Having a family history of breast cancer augments the odds of developing it. The risk is more if that family member developed it in both the breasts. Hormones largely influence the development of this condition. Lifestyle and diet also can contribute towards the cause.

Symptoms

It is difficult to detect breast cancer in its early stages because more often than not, the early symptoms are painless. Most cases are discovered by the appearance of lumps. The lumps may develop in the collar bone or the armpit or on the breasts. Most lumps that are formed are usually not cancerous. Breast discharge could be another symptom for cancer. But most probably it is not. Nipple inversion is one of the important symptoms. Other common symptoms involve redness on the breast skin or some change in the breast skin texture. Continue reading ‘What to Know About Breast Cancer’ »

In my previous articles, I discussed how I discovered the cancer, my initial treatments, and the chemo. Now, I will discuss how it all came to an end. It was a yearlong battle, and now I can look back and say what really happened.

Follow Up Visits Galore

You would think that after all the surgeries and chemo, I would be done. However, this was not the case. My reconstruction doctor alone wanted to see me every few days then every few weeks. I had to do exercises to make sure the reconstruction went right. It was time consuming and very demanding.

After Chemo Drugs

There are two main drugs given to women after breast cancer, Tamoxifen and Arimidex. I started off on Arimidex because years earlier I had a hysterectomy. However, I needed to get a bone scan because Arimidex could cause bone loss leading to osteoporosis. Turns out, I have severe osteoporosis and I was only 33! (I had a birthday since my original breast cancer diagnosis at 32.) Continue reading ‘Breast Cancer – Diagnosed at 32, My Story Part 3 – Recovery’ »

The stages inside Breast Cancer Stage Two can be rather different! So, before we tell you the exact survival rate stat records, we need to go back and describe a bit how is breast cancer staged.

The stage is being assigned depending on how invasive (or not) it is, how many lymph nodes are taken by the cancer, has it spread to other parts of the body, and finally, the stage depends on the size of the tumor.

If the cancer is diagnosed as breast cancer stage 2, and it has not spread to the lymph nodes, and it’s diameter is under 2 centimeters, the 5 year survival rate is 88%-92% according to the statistics of the (American) National Cancer Institute. Continue reading ‘Stage 2 Breast Cancer Survival Rate’ »

Osteoporosis, the loss of bone mass and structure, is made haste by the unexpected drop in estrogen levels that happens as a woman enters menopause, either in nature, by surgical taking away of the ovaries before age 45, or by premature menopause caused by breast cancer treatment. Estrogen keeps the bones; hence estrogen shortage is an exact risk factor for osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis could happen at roughly age forty-five years or anytime after. It is particularly significant for women experience undertaking treatment for breast cancer to be informed concerning the risk factors, detection and prevention of osteoporosis.

While the precise cause of breast cancer is not identified, the risk of developing it enhances with age. The risk is chiefly high in women over the age of 60. Due to their age, these women are already at increased risk for osteoporosis. Given the increasing occurrence of the disease and the development of long-term survival rates, bone health and fracture prevention have become significant health issues amongst its survivors. Continue reading ‘Breast Cancer and the Problem of Osteoporosis’ »

Breast cancer awareness is a must for every female. This article will be concerning about the possible signs of breast cancer and its common management. There are many, but it is always a wise move to know one or two. In future, this little knowledge itself may very well save your life.

Among the possible signs of breast cancer showing up are:-

- Discharge from nipple (of the breasts) which is not breast milk, and sometimes bloody

- Physical changes like the nipple pointing downward or inverted. Any itchiness, redness, scaling or even dimples also should never be overlooked.

- Breasts will look and feel bigger. Pain usually accompanies this growth. Continue reading ‘Signs of Breast Cancer and Management of the Cancer’ »