Breast Cancer Type and Breast Cancer Symptoms

Breast Cancer is a cancer that develops in the breast due to uninhibited multiplication of abnormal tissue.

There are two breast cancer type:

• Ductal carcinoma
  It commences in the ducts or tubes that carry milk to the nipple from the breast. Majority of the breast cancers are of this form.
• Lobular carcinoma
  It originates in milk-producing parts of the breast known as the lobules.

Atypically, breast cancer could originate in other parts of the breast.

Several breast cancers show sensitivity to the estrogen hormone. This translates to the fact that estrogen leads to the growth of the breast cancer tumors. This kind of cancer is known as estrogen receptor positive cancer (ER positive cancer).

A few women develop the HER2-positive breast cancer. HER2 is a gene that aids in cell growth, division and restoration process. When there are excessive replicas of this gene, cells –inclusive of the malignant cells – proliferate quicker. Experts believe that women having HER2-positive breast cancer have a more belligerent disease and an increased risk of relapse as compared to those that did not have this kind of breast cancer.

Risk Factors:

During the course of the entire life span, one in eight women would be detected with breast cancer.

Unalterable risk factors comprise of:

• Age Factor and sex
  Breast cancer risk tends to rise in direct proportion to one’s age. Most of the advanced breast cancer cases are diagnosed among women past fifty years of age. Women are hundred times more prone to developing breast cancer as compared to men.
• Family History
  The risk of developing breast cancer is higher when close relations have had either cancers of the breast, uterus, ovaries or the colon. Breast cancer was noted among twenty to thirty percent of women that have a family history of the disease.
• Genetic constitution
  Some individuals have a genetic makeup that makes them more prone to breast cancer. The prevalent gene defects are detected in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. These genes generally are producers of the cancer-combatant proteins. However, if a faulty gene is passed on to the next generation, then the risk of developing breast cancer increases. Women having one of these flaws have an eighty percent probability of developing breast cancer during their lifetime.
• Menstrual Cycle
  Those women getting their menses early on (prior to twelve years of age) or who have a late onset of menopause (subsequent to 55 years of age) are at a heightened risk of developing breast cancer.
• Alcoholism
  Consuming past two drinks of alcoholic drinks a day might raise the risk for breast cancer.
• Pregnancy & Child Delivery
  Non-child bearing women or have had kids subsequent to thirty years of age have a higher risk of developing breast cancer. Multiple pregnancies or getting pregnancy at a young age lowers the risk of breast cancer.
• DES intake
  Those women that consumed DES or diethylstilbestrol to avert miscarriage could raise the risk of breast cancer in over forty year old women. During the years 1940 – 1950, this drug was administered to women.
• HRT or Hormone Replacement Therapy
  Those women who underwent hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for some years or more, for allaying menopausal symptoms are at higher risk of breast cancer.
• Being Obese
  Being obese or overweight has been associated with breast cancer, though this link is still engulfed in major controversy. The conjecture is that obesity elicits the greater production of estrogen that could trigger breast cancer.
• Radiation Therapy
  Those who have earlier undergone radiation therapy during infancy or as a young adult for cancer treatment of the chest region are at higher risk of breast cancer. The younger the age when one got the radiation therapy, the greater the risk element – particularly when the radiation therapy was given during the onset of puberty.

Breast implant surgery, use of anti-deodorants or antiperspirants and using underwire bras do not raise the risk of developing breast cancer. There is no proof that directly links breast cancer and pesticides.

Breast Cancer Symptoms:

Breast cancer symptoms in its preliminary stages are generally asymptomatic. Hence, getting regular breast cancer screening are crucial. As the cancer metastasizes (grows), the symptoms could comprise of:

• Appearance of a lump – a hard, generally painless, swelling, thickening or lump having jagged edges in the underarms that have newly surfaced or unusual in appearance.
• A variation in the size, form or feel of the nipples or breast – for instance, reddishness, appearance of dimples or puckers that gives the skin an orange-like tone. Nipples appearing scaly or crusty.
• Spontaneous fluid secretion from the nipples in the absence of any squeezing or pressing that could be blood-filled, translucent to yellow, green in appearance and pus-alike.
• A color or feel variation noted in the skin of the breast or the darker toned part surrounding the nipples (areolar region).

Men also develop breast cancer wherein the signs comprise of lumpy formations in the breast along with pain and soreness experienced.
Signs of advanced stage breast cancer could comprise of:

• Pain and discomfort felt in the bone, breast.
• Skin ulcers – Reddish skin that further turns into blisters, open sores and eventually appears crater-like.
• Swelling noted in the arm adjacent to the affected breast.
• Reduction in weight.