Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer in women, accounting for one in every ten new cancer diagnoses each year. It is the second leading cause of female cancer mortality worldwide.
The milk-producing glands of the breast are anatomically placed in front of the chest wall. They are held in place by ligaments that link the breast to the chest wall, and they rest on the pectoralis major muscle. The breast is made up of fifteen to twenty lobes that are arranged in a circular pattern.
The fat that covers the lobes determines the size and contour of the breasts. Each lobe is made up of lobules, which contain milk-producing glands when activated by hormones. Breast cancer is a disease that is always silent. Routine testing is used to diagnose the majority of patients with the condition. Others may have an unintentionally noticed breast lump, a change in breast size or shape, or nipple discharge.
Nonetheless, mastalgia is a common condition. A physical examination, imaging, specifically mammography, and a tissue sample are all required for a breast cancer diagnosis. Early detection increases the chances of survival. The tumor's proclivity to spread lymphatically and hematologically results in a poor prognosis and distant metastases. This article outlines and emphasizes the importance of breast cancer screening activities.
Etiology
It is critical to identify breast cancer development risk factors in general health screenings for women.
Breast cancer risk factors are classified into seven categories:
Age: Even after controlling for risk variables, the incidence of breast cancer continues to climb as the female population ages.
Females make up the great majority of breast cancer sufferers
A history of primary breast cancer increases the likelihood of developing primary breast cancer in the opposite breast.
Variables associated with histologic risk: Histologic abnormalities discovered during breast biopsies represent a diverse set of breast cancer risk factors. Proliferative changes with atypia and lobular cancer in situ are examples of these anomalies (LCIS).
First-degree relatives of breast cancer patients have a 2- to 3-fold increased risk of the disease due to genetic risk factors associated with their family history. Genetic causes may account for 5% to 10% of breast cancer cases, with genetic factors accounting for 25% of incidences among women under 30. BRCA1 and BRCA2 are the two most common genes linked to an increased risk of breast cancer.
Reproductive milestones are thought to raise a woman's lifetime estrogen consumption, which may increase her risk of breast cancer. These include menarche occurring before the age of 12, the first live birth occurring after the age of 30, and menopause occurring after the age of 55.
Progesterone and estrogen are used to treat a range of illnesses both medically and as dietary supplements. Contraception in premenopausal women and hormone replacement treatment in postmenopausal women are the two most popular use.
Breast Cancer Therapy Administration
The two essential therapeutic concepts are reducing the danger of metastatic spread and the chance of local recurrence. Surgery, with or without radiotherapy, is used to control local cancer.
When metastatic relapse is a possibility, systemic therapy, which might include hormone therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, or any combination of these, is recommended. In postmenopausal women, Arimidex 1 mg is used to treat breast cancer. The hormone oestrogen hastens the growth of some breast cancers.
The most prevalent breast cancer therapies are surgery and Breast Cancer Pills. It is the most fundamental local disease management technique. Due to the significant risk of morbidity without a survival advantage, Halsted's radical mastectomy, in which the breast is removed along with axillary lymph node dissection and both pectoral muscles are excised, is no longer recommended.
Patey had a modified radical mastectomy, which is becoming more prevalent. The whole breast tissue, as well as a significant part of skin and lymph nodes from the armpit, must be removed. The major and secondary pectoral muscles are still there.
Oncology radiotherapy
Radiation therapy has a substantial impact on local disease management. Following 10 years, radiation therapy provided after breast-conserving surgery reduces the chance of cancer recurrence by approximately 50% and the risk of breast cancer death by approximately 20%.
Radiation therapy has not been proven to improve survival in patients who have undergone hormonal therapy for at least five years; as a result, it is contraindicated in women 70 and older with small, lymph node-negative, hormone receptor-positive (HR+) tumors.
Radiation therapy is helpful when a tumor is big (more than 5 centimeters), invades the skin or chest wall, or there are positive lymph nodes. It can also be used as palliative treatment in severe situations, such as those involving bone metastases or the central nervous system (CNS). Radiation therapy can be delivered through brachytherapy, external beam radiation, or a combination of the two.
Cancer, Oncology
Chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and targeted therapy are examples of systemic therapies used to treat breast cancer. A 6-month course of first-generation chemotherapy, such as cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5-fluorouracil (CMF), can reduce the risk of relapse by 25% during a 10- to 15-year period.
Taxanes and anthracyclines are two recent breast cancer treatments (doxorubicin or epirubicin). Adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy lasts three to six months. Tamoxifen as adjuvant therapy for early-stage HR+ breast cancer has been shown to reduce recurrence and mortality rates in the first ten and fifteen years, respectively.
Early breast cancer has a surprisingly good prognosis. The five-year survival rate for stages 0 and I is 100%. Breast cancer stages II and III have 5-year survival rates of roughly 93% and 72%, respectively. When the disease spreads throughout the body, the outlook deteriorates dramatically. Only 22% of stage IV breast cancer patients survive five years.
A test for estrogen and progesterone receptors
The number of estrogen and progesterone receptors (hormones) in malignant tissue is measured with this test. Oestrogen and/or progesterone receptor-positive tumors have unusually high numbers of estrogen and/or progesterone receptors. This type of breast cancer may spread more quickly.
Another step is cancer staging. The goal of staging is to assess whether or not the breast cancer has progressed to other parts of the body. Other diagnostic imaging studies, as well as a sentinel lymph node biopsy, may be carried out. The goal of this biopsy is to see if the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes.
