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Breast Cancer
Medical Questions » Breast Cancer
| Name: Breast Cancer |
| Also known as: Mammary Carcinoma |
| Cancer that develops in the breast tissue of women or men. The most common form of cancer in women with one in every 700 women over 18 developing breast cancer every year. |
Causes of Breast Cancer
The absolute cause is unknown but it is more common in women who have a close relative (mother, sister, daughter) with the disease, in women who have not had a pregnancy, have not breast fed, have had a first pregnancy after 35 years, in white women, those who have had uterine cancer, and in higher socioeconomic groups. On the other hand, women who start their periods late and those who have an early menopause have a lower incidence of breast cancer. About 2% of all breast cancers occur in men as they have a tiny amount of breast tissue present just under the nipple. |
Symptoms of Breast Cancer
A hard, fixed, tender lump in the breast. The nipple skin itself can become cancerous causing a thick, firm, rubbery feeling to the nipple (see Piaget' s disease of the nipple). There are many other causes of lumps in the breast less than one in ten breast lumps examined by a doctor is cancerous. |
Tests for Breast Cancer
The most important method of detecting breast cancer is monthly self examination. The diagnosis is made by X-ray mammogram, needle biopsy and ultrasound scan of the breast. If despite negative tests the lump persists, it may be removed for examination by a small operation through a cosmetic incision that follows the line of the colored area around the nipple, or the skin fold under the breast. |
Treatment for Breast Cancer
A disfiguring radical mastectomy (removal of the breast and underlying muscles) is an operation of the past except in the most advanced cases of breast cancer. It has been replaced by simple mastectomy in which only the breast is removed, leaving a cosmetically acceptable scar and scope for later plastic reconstruction of the breast. Often the lymph nodes under the arm will be removed at the same time. In women with early cancer, equally good results can be obtained by removal of the lump alone. A course of radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy (drugs) may also be given.
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Complications of Breast Cancer of its treatment
The cancer may spread to nearby lymph nodes, the lungs and bones. Lymphoedema (hard swelling — see separate entry) of the adjacent arm as a result of lymph nodes being removed from armpit. |
Likely Outcome of Breast Cancer
Up to 2/3 of all patients with breast cancer can be cured. In early cases the cure rate rises to over 90%. |
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