Recognize Breast Cancer Symptoms Early To Kill Them

Most of us know that the most important creature of the world women are at life-time risk of developing breast cancer due to various factors among them some are in control, but others are not in control and play a vital role to affect the life of women by causing some of the symptoms that don't appear at initial stage.

In most of the cases these symptoms remain passive and appear at later stage when they can't be managed easily with number of treatment options. It is essential to be in touch with breasts for women to catch these symptoms earlier.

How to Recognize Breast Cancer Symptoms?

There are different ways to catch the breast cancer symptoms at initial stage such as self-examination, clinical examination, breast cancer screening etc. Each type has the advantages and the basic purpose of all these methods is the same and that is to detect the cancer as soon as possible after it attacks a woman.

The emphasis on early detection is due to the fact that it is the only way to treat cancer successfully and to raise the survival rate. Self-examination is the most convenient and easy to do method for getting information about the most delicate and important body part breast.

Women can get adequate information about breast by performing regular self-examination at least once a month as information about breasts will be useful not only to detect the symptoms of breast cancer, but also to catch the other abnormalities that can lead to develop breast cancer.

Self-examination can be performed in the privacy of room without seeking the help of any body. The only thing that is required to perform effective self-examination is the women must be keen observer so that they can distinguish normal and abnormal changes. Another benefit of self-examination is that women have clear idea of how her breasts look and feel normally and it is one of the most important things for women to recognize the breast cancer symptoms.

Breast Cancer Symptoms

These symptoms are observed by most of the women during self-examination

· Skin changes such as appearance of wrinkles and puckers on breast skin.

· Changes of size and shape in some cases it is natural for one breast to be larger than the other one, but in case of sudden change it is essential to know the reason.

· Pain in breast that is persistent and does not go away after some medication as well.

· Nipple changes such as inversion or ulceration.

· Fluid discharge from nipple

· Lump formation in the armpit or any area of breast

· Swelling in any part of breast or in the armpit

James is a blogger and writer. He usually writes about breast cancer, breast awareness and breast examination. You can contact him directly at james@breastlight.com.

Original article

To Be Conscious of the Early Indications Is the Best Way to Avoid Incurring Breast Cancer

According to Dr. Cedric F. Garland of the Moores Cancer Center and the UCSD School of Medicine:

"This will potentially be the most important action ever conducted toward prevention of breast cancer. The more women who participate in this study, the greater the chance that we will defeat breast cancer within our lifetimes."

The most excellent probable way to evade this is to educate each individual about the deterrence. First and foremost, to make it achievable, everybody must know the primary causes of it: nutritional deficit, level of exposure to environmental toxicity, inflammation, estrogen ascendancy, and low immune system. Unfortunately, these things are often disregarded by many of us for the reason of having the notion about, "genes, which cause the disease".

Secondly, to consider who are at risk of this type of Cancer:

(1). Females
(2). Age
(3). Lack of childbearing and the ability to breastfeed
(4). Increased in hormone levels
(5). Dietary Iodine deficiency
(6). Smoking
(7) Menstrual cycle (Women who get their periods early (before age 12) or went through menopause late (after age 55) have an increased risk of it.)
(8) DES (Women who took diethylstilbestrol (DES) to prevent miscarriage may have an increased risk of it after age 40.)
(9) Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) -- You have a higher risk for breast cancer if you have received hormone replacement therapy for several years or more. Many women take HRT to reduce the symptoms of menopause.

However, breast implants, using antiperspirants, and wearing under wire bras do not raise your risk for breast cancer. There is no evidence of a direct link between breast cancer and pesticides.

Meanwhile, according to The World Cancer Research Fund, an estimate of 38% of breast cancer cases in the US are preventable through reducing alcohol intake, increasing physical activity levels and maintaining a healthy weight. It also estimated that 42% of its cases in the UK could be prevented in this way, as well as 28% in Brazil and 20% in China.

To add up, according to some research, in more recent years, research has indicated the impact of diet and other behaviors on breast cancer. These additional risk factors include: endocrine disruptors (chemicals that interfere with edocrine: DDT, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's), bisphenol A (BPA), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE's), and a variety of phthalates), shiftwork, and radiation -- Although the radiation from mammography is a low dose, the cumulative effect can cause cancer.

This has to prove that, each woman should participate in its study, to learn more about the prevention, so as to discover its inevitable presence without the need to undergo some sort of technology (X-RAY Mammography) intended for its finding. Let us all be cognizant about it.

Original article

Oncotype DX: Do All Patients With Early Stage Breast Cancer Need Chemotherapy?

What is Oncotype Dx?

There are over 25000 genes in human beings. Several of these genes were analyzed in breast cancer patients undergoing clinical studies to identify a group of 21 genes that were most strongly correlated with cancer recurrence. Studies done on these genes in breast cancer tissue became the basis for developing the Oncotype Dx test to determine what is called a Recurrence Score.

How do you use the information from this test?

The Recurrence score determines the risk of patients developing a recurrence of their breast cancers over the following ten years.

This information also helps cancer physicians choose the most appropriate form of treatment including the ability to determine the likely benefit from chemotherapy.

Thus, this test not only allowed physicians to be able to predict the behavior of these cancers better but also allowed a more accurate estimation of the beneficial effects of adding chemotherapy.

Do we need to perform this test on ALL patients diagnosed with breast cancer?

Traditionally, physicians have used breast cancer characteristics such as size of the cancer, receptor status, and lymph node status to estimate how likely their cancer is to come back, and to help determine treatment decisions including the need for chemotherapy. These characteristics are still helpful in choosing a course of treatment, but the additional information provided by the Oncotype DX test has helped refine the treatment choices that can be offered to these patients.

We do not need to perform this test on ALL patients diagnosed with Breast cancer. Oncotype Dx for breast cancer was initially used to help patients with stage I and II cancers who do not have lymph node or distant spread of their tumors and who have tumors that were positive for estrogen receptors. Traditionally, these patients have been treated with such medications as Tamoxifen alone. It was felt that many of these patients failed this form of treatment and could have been served well with the addition of chemotherapy in addition to Tamoxifen. Oncotype Dx thus allows identification of this subset of patients who could benefit with the addition of chemotherapy while sparing others from it.

Newer studies are suggesting similar predictive and prognostic value in those patients who have early stage, estrogen receptor positive breast cancer who already show cancer spread to lymph nodes in the axilla.

There is no benefit of this test in patients with non-invasive breast cancers and those who have obvious evidence of breast cancer spread.

In summary: Oncotype Dx is a simple test that has had a profound impact on our ability to predict the prognosis as well as to tailor make more precise treatment decisions in patients with early stage breast cancers.

This test is but a harbinger of things to come in the world of cancer care where testing cancers at a molecular level for each individual patient will lead to further refinements in our ability to plan effective treatment strategies for them.

Dr. Kumar is a board certified Radiation Oncologist who is co-founder of a private practice group in Florida. He has over 17 years experience dealing with cancer patients including several members in his own family who have been afflicted by this disease.

His philosophy of managing patients is through a unique holistic approach that takes into account the wishes and needs of patients and their families. He believes that any battle is won at the level of the mind first before the body goes into action to win the war. His website http://curingcancerofthemind.com/ reflects this philosophy.

He is always available to help any patient with questions regarding cancer and radiation therapy and can be reached at 772 293 0377.

Original article

Early Symptoms of Breast Cancer and How to Detect Them

Breast cancer is the second most common and also the second most lethal cancer in women in the United States. It occurs when cancerous cells develop in the breast tissue, most commonly in the milk ducts or glands. The cells grow uncontrollably and, in some cases, they can even spread to other parts of body which are not directly connected to the breast, such as the liver, bones, lungs, and brain. This kind of condition is also known as metastatic, advanced, or secondary breast cancer.

Generally breast cancer shows several symptoms, including:

1. A lump in the breast which can be the size of a pea which persists even after one menstrual cycle. An unusual mass found in the underarm can also be a sign of the disease. Lumps are one of the first and very general symptoms of breast cancer. They generally are painless, but in some cases, sufferers can also feel a prickling sensation. They can be detected by mammography even before they can be felt or seen.

2. Changes in the breast size, temperature, contour, and texture. The affected breast can either swell up or shrink depending on the type of the cancer. It can also show other signs such as orange peel-like skin surface (also known as peu d'orange), flattening or indentation, a marble-like area under the skin, and higher temperature at the affected breast.

3. Pain and the feeling of tenderness of the breast.

4. The swelling of the lymph nodes in the underarm.

5. Changes that can be seen or felt in the affected nipple, such as nipple retraction, burning sensation, itchiness, ulceration, or the scaling of the nipple (which is also a common symptom of Paget's disease). Sometimes the nipple also produces bloody or clear discharge.

All the symptoms and signs can be seen with naked eyes and felt with manual examination. Nevertheless, breast self-exams are not recommended by some medication centers. Consult your doctor about the limitations and benefits of the self-examination before doing it. There are other, more accurate ways to examine the early symptoms of breast cancer, including clinical examination, mammogram, ultrasound scanning, and needle test (FNAC). All of these tests can be performed only by healthcare professionals. You are advised to have the examination(s) regularly, at least once in a year. The best time to get your breast examined is shortly after the end of your menstrual cycle since your breast will be in the most normal condition (not swollen or tender), making any abnormal changes easier to detect.

The detection of early symptoms of breast cancer is necessary for immediate follow-ups. Visit our site to get more info about how to detect the early signs and symptoms of the cancer.

Original article