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Symptoms of Breast Cancer
Breast cancer remains undiagnosed mostly in older women lack of predominant symptoms often results in late treatment for the disease. Early breast cancer is devoid of pain if it is diagnosed in early stages treatment becomes far simpler and the recovery is faster.
Few symptoms of breast cancer that are listed below are some common symptoms that have been seen in breast cancer symptoms patients and they should be seen a s a warning bell for testing for breast cancer.
A lump or thickening in the breast area
Liquid discharge from the nipple area
Dimpling in the skin
A change in shape and size of breast
Blood stained discharge from the nipple area
Sinking or changing shape of nipples
Swelling or lumps in the breast or armpit
A lump though always does not been cancer, there are three categories of lump that can be found in women they can be:
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Cyst
Fibroderma
Malignant tumor
The first two categories are benign, though all of the symptoms mentioned above are of breast cancer but they may occur due to some other disease therefore it is very important to go for proper diagnosis before jumping to conclusions.
Treatment for Breast Cancer
Breast cancer treatment depends on extent in which the malignant cells have spread, once the extent is known by the physician a treatment program for the patient is planned by the doctor. Broadly there are three breast cancer stages in and depending on these stages the treatment is suggested.Breast cancer treatment may involve:
Surgery
Once the tumor is identified as malign, surgery becomes one safe option to surgically remove the malign lump. Surgery could involve removing whole of the breast or just the area where lump has formed. Usually if the penetration of the malignant cells is deep the whole area is cut off for stopping them to spread in other organs.The different surgeries have different medical terms:
Breast Conserving or Breast Sparing Surgery: The surgery removes partial part of the breast.
Lumpectomy: Means when a partial part of the breast is removed and a part of normal tissue are also removed.
Segmental Mastectomy: The surgery removes a large part of the breast, little tissues that lie inside and some from the arms.
Mastectomy: The surgery removes whole of the breast and tissues around arms.
Radical Mastectomy: This is the old form of surgery that removes the breast, muscles around chest and lymph nodes. It is most intense surgery.
Radiation
Also termed as radiotherapy, the treatment is effective to destroy the malign tissues around the affected area. Radiation uses high-energy rays to kill the dead cells. Radiation is further given by either external or by implantation or combined together as the person's treatment is designed.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill the cells and mostly injected in the body combined with other medicine. It can be taken in form of medicines as the physician suggests.
Hormonal Therapy
Hormonal therapy uses the treatment, as a replacement therapy where the growth of the hormones is stopped that is responsible for the growth of cells.
Side Effects of Treatment
Cancer treatment is intense and goes on for quite some years. After the initial treatment getting over it still requires regular checkups and testing. The medication is strong and therefore has its own side effects. Chemotherapy results in hair loss from all parts of body if the dose is high. After treatment the hair growth is set back to normal. Radiation though destroys the malign cells they also kill tissues or cells of the area surrounding it. In mastectomy where the whole breast is removed the weight of the person can get off balance. This might cause pain in neck and back. Hormonal therapy can lead to blood clots in legs and lungs, nausea, irregular periods if the person is pre-menopause.
Prevention of Breast Cancer
Breast cancer can be treated and assures 100% recovery if the diagnosis is done in early stages, there are some prevention options that can be undertaken to stop it:
Balanced diet and lifestyle
Low use of alcohol
Low carbohydrate in diet
Regular checkups like mammogram
Exercising
Avoid stress
The options might look simple but they are the most effective ways to prevent breast cancer.
Research on Breast Cancer
The breast cancer research is ongoing process and people are trying to find out from case studies, testimonials and history of the patient are used to develop better preventive measures as well as curative measures. The research has silenced many myths about breast cancer and today people have fair information about breast cancer.
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