Breast cancer

Alternative Names

Breast cancer, Malignant breast neoplasm; Ductal carcinoma in situ

What is Breast cancer

Breast cancer (malignant breast neoplasm) is a cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts supplying the ducts with milk.

Normally, cells in the breast that are old or damaged will stop dividing and die before they can become cancerous. These cells replaced by healthy young cells. Breast cancer occurs when a genetic mutation causes old or damaged cells to continue to divide and multiply uncontrollably. This results in the development of a malignant tumor in the breast.

Brest cancer is subdivided into different types:

• Breast carcinoma
• Breast sarcoma
• Paget's Disease
• Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) - a benign tumor
• Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) - also called "intraductal carcinoma"
• Ductal carcinoma - starts in the lining of the ducts
• Lobular carcinoma - starts in the lobules
• Estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer - tumors that react to estrogen

Signs and symptoms

The common symptoms of breast cancer are considered to be:

• Nipple discharge or redness
• Breast or nipple pain
• Swelling of part of the breast or dimpling

Possible complications

The most serious complications of this disease include:

• Destruction of the breast
• Destruction of the chest wall surrounding the breast
• Mastitis
• Nipple discharge
• Chest pain
• Radiation therapy side effects
• Chemotherapy side effects

What causes

There are 3 important causes of breast cancer:

• The cancer can return at the original site (local recurrence)
• The cancer can recur nearby such as in the chest (regional recurrence)
• The cancer can spread to a distant location in the body such as lymph nodes, bone marrow or lungs (distant recurrence or a metastasis)

Prevention

• Regular breast self-exams
• Regular mammogram screening
• Bilateral mastectomy
• Avoid alcohol
• Take a vitamin C supplement
• Eat a high fiber diet
• Eat a low fat diet
• Avoid salt-cured, salt-pickled and smoked foods
• Weight loss if you are overweight

There are some medicines preventing Breast cancer:

• Tamoxifen
• Alpha-Tamoxifen
• Apo-Tamox
• Dom-Tamoxifen
• Nolvadex
• Nolvadex-D
• Novo-Tamoxifen
• PMS-Tamoxifen
• Tamofen
• Tamone

Treatment

The main treatments for breast cancer are:

• surgery
• radiotherapy
• chemotherapy
• hormone therapy
• biological therapy (targeted therapy)

You may have one of these treatments or a combination. The type of treatment or the combination of treatments will depend on how the cancer was diagnosed and the stage it is at.