Breast Cancer

Thesis Statement

Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that develops from the cells of the breast. It is the most common type of cancer among women in the United Kingdom.

Introduction

It is easy to read on the net, and watch on TV how people suffer and die in chronic and incurable diseases, but not even imaginable that one's own loved ones might suffer the same.

It is most often curable when found early. The normal breast consisting of three main components: the lobules (milk-producing glands), the ducts (thin tubes that connect the lobules to the nipple) and the stroma (fatty tissue and ligaments surrounding the ducts and lobules, blood vessels, and lymphatic vessels). About 80 per cent of breast cancers start in the ducts. Whenever a woman discovers a lump on her breast she should go to the doctor immediately. (Gilliland, 683-88) There are many kinds of breast cancers. Women with a strong family history of breast cancer are being tested for inherited mutations to several breast cancer susceptibility genes, including BRCA-1, BRCA-2, ATM and p53 (a dysfunctional gene which helps control cell division). Cracking the genetic code for breast cancer opens the possibility of cancer prevention, early detection and genetic counseling. Additionally, medical researchers are focusing on biological tests that may detect tumor "markers" for breast cancer in blood and urine.

Main Body

Some breast cancers usually grow in nests or sheets, rather than as confined, solid tumors and therefore can be diffuse throughout the breast with no palpable mass. The cancer cells clog the lymphatic system just below the skin. Lymph node involvement is assumed. Increased breast density compared to prior mammograms should be considered suspicious.

One or more of the following are the typical symptoms of Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC):

Increase in breast size over a short period of time (sometimes a cup size in a few days)

Itching (called pruritus) that is unrelenting and unaffected by medicated creams and ointments

Pink, red, or dark colored area (called erythema) sometimes with texture similar to the skin of an orange (called peau d'orange)

Ridges and thickened areas of the skin

What appears to be a bruise does not go away

Nipple flattening or retraction

Nipple discharge

Breast is warm to the touch

Breast pain which is not cyclic in nature (may be constant or stabbing) (Jensen, 23-27)

Change in color and texture of the dark pigmented area surrounding the nipple (also called areola or aureole)

Swollen lymph nodes in the underarm (called axillary) area or above the collar bone (called supraclavicle) area

Although a dominant mass is present in many cases, most inflammatory cancers present as diffuse infiltration of the breast without a well-defined tumor.

Women who have an altered gene related to breast cancer and who have had breast cancer in one breast, have an increased risk of developing breast cancer in the other breast. (Armstrong, 567-569) These women also have an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer, and may have an increased risk of developing other cancers also. Having the disease was not extraordinarily abnormal as even men who have an ...