Breast Cancer Treatment - Conventional & Alternative Treatments

Breast Treatment - Conventional & Alternative Treatments
For Breast Cancer
By Tess Barksdale

Breast statistics

As of this writing, statistics show that one in nine women will
get breast in her lifetime. While a woman’s chance of
getting breast increases as she gets older, she should
always be on the lookout for subtle symptoms and act quickly if
she suspects anything out of the norm as certain types of breast
cancer have a tendency to spread quickly.

Breast Personal Check List:

A woman’s family history plays a significant role in
determining her risk for breast cancer. A family history could
be described as three or more relatives diagnosed with breast
cancer, and families that have multiple generations of breast
cancer patients are at an increased risk.

If you have family members with early-onset breast or
cancer in both breasts, suffer from a very cancer, or have
mutations of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes have up to an 85% chance
of developing breast by age 70.

This particular mutation typically occurs in Jewish women of
Ashkenazi decent.

However, heredity is not the only risk factor involved in
developing breast cancer. A woman’s lifestyle and environment
can play a major factor in determining her risk for developing
breast cancer. Some risk factors include:

1. High-fat diet
2. Excessive alcohol
3. Overweight/Obesity
4. Child bearing after 30 or no children at all
5. Menopause after you are 52

Understand however, some would be diagnosed with breast cancer
without being part of any of these high-risk groups.

Breast signs and symptoms

1. A lump in the breast with a tissue surrounding the breast
2. Breast tenderness
3. Swelling in the armpits
4. The appearance of your breast changes (what may appear to be
higher than the other or change shapes)
5. Nipple changes (dimpled, itchy, flaking, inverted)
6. Discharge from the nipple (clear fluid or bloody discharge)

As stated earlier, even the slightest change should be met with
a visit to your doctor as soon as possible, as breast may
spread to the lymph nodes and other parts of the body rapidly.
Your doctor will examine your breasts and possibly prescribe a
mammogram or breast x-ray just to be on the safe side.

If the mammogram shows any reason for concern, your physician
will move forward with an ultrasound test. In this test, sound
waves will be used to provide an image of the interior of the
breast tissue. It's used to pinpoint the exact location of any
mass that might be present, and it also helps to determine
whether the mass is cancerous.

In most instances, a needle biopsy is used to confirm
diagnosis. Needle biopsies come in two types. With fine needle
aspiration, a needle is inserted into the breast lump. If the
lump is just a cyst, you will have a discharge when it is
pierced with the needle. If there is no fluid present, and a
lump

is determined to be a tumor, cells are removed to be
examined. If however you receive a core needle biopsy, breast
tissue cells will be removed and examined.

If the tumor size is less than 4 cm, it can typically be
removed surgically via a lumpectomy (removal of the lump),
followed by radiation treatment. If the tumor is larger than the
4 cm, then a mastectomy (removal of the breast and underlying
tissue) is needed. After the mastectomy, you can opt to have the
breast reconstructed or wait until a later date.

During surgery, your physician will remove lymph nodes from
under your arm which will be examined for the presence of
cancerous cells. Chemotherapy or hormone therapy with Tamoxifen
will be the next course of action for women diagnosed with
positive lymph nodes. Since there are a number of treatment
options available for breast depending on tumor size,
lymph node involvement, and the presence of either positive or
negative estrogen receptors, you should begin conversations
about various options with your doctor as soon as possible.

Breast and hormone therapy

Many women are opting for treating breast with hormone
therapy. Tamoxifen blocks the effects of estrogen on the breast,
which will stop the growth of cancerous cells. Unfortunately,
women taking Tamoxifen has been shown to raise the risk of
uterine cancer, to make sure you are screened carefully before
taking this drug.

About the Author: Tess Barksdale is your average new century
woman, author, mother, daughter, friend, and businesswoman. Tess
writes on many topics but loves discussing all things women.
Find out more about breast treatment by visiting Tess at
her website at http://womenshealthreport.org

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