BREAST CANCER

Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer

In the United States in 2000 alone, an estimated 43,700 people will die from breast cancer. It is the number two cancer killer among females ages 15 to 54. On average if a woman gets this disease, their life expectancy drops drastically. This cancer is within the top three cancers of all women above the age of 15, and comprises a great amount of all health care costs in the U.S. totalling an astounding 37 billion dollars a year in direct medical costs. An average woman is said to have a one in nine chance of getting the cancer, but if that person had family history of the disease, his or her chances have been measured up to a one in six chance. Sixty-nine percent of African-American women survive from it, and there are predicted to be nearly two million new cases reported this year in the U.S. (Breast Cancer Key Statistics).

Breast cancer is a group of rapidly reproducing, undifferentiated cells in the area of the breast in men and women. The earliest changes occur in the epithelial cells of the terminal end buds (TEB) of the breast milk ductal system. While the progressive steps of breast cancer are unknown, the cells in the breast trigger a reaction of cell reproduction. These new cancer cells form tumours. If cancer cells are active or are considered malign, the tumour grows at tremendous speeds, and may end up in metastasis. Metastasis is a complex process in which cells break away from their primary tumours and via the blood supply or through the lymph system relocate into other organs, thus spreading cancer throughout the body. Generally, if a lump is smaller than one centimetre, it is considered benign, although every woman should consult her doctor about any unusual bumps or feeling in the chest. One sign of breast cancer results from ductal cancer in the breast. A once hollow open tube could be completely clogged up with cancerous cells leaving an awkward feeling in the chest area. Other complications that result from this cancer and others are the clogging and cramming of the system (American Cancer Society, 1999: 10).

Scientists do not yet know or understand exactly what causes Breast Cancer. Studies show that the women most at risk are those whom: began to menstruate at an unusually young age or begin menopause at a young age, the permanent cessation of menstruation, at a late age. Also those women who choose to have children at a later age or those women who don't have children at all. Breast Cancer has also been found to be hereditary and women who have history of the disease in the family are also greater at risk.

Recently genes have been named as a great cause of cancer. It now is thought in the medical community that while there are definite environmental contributors to cancer, even those people who are exposed to few carcinogens may suffer from disease that runs in their ...