Breast Cancer

Introduction

Breast cancer is a fatal disease that influences millions of women throughout the globe. It is defined by the development of uncontrollable and abnormal cells in the breast tissue. There are still several issues to that concern, but the general idea remains that timely diagnosis and treatment can boost the proportion of patients that can survive the disease. Here we will be looking at techniques involved in diagnosing breast cancer and what may be done for the treatment of the disease.

Diagnosis

Breast cancer is relatively difficult to diagnose or identify at the initial stages because it manifests no symptoms in the early stages. At an advanced stage, the patient will develop signs that would be related to alterations in breast tissue and can include the formation of lumps and skin, alteration in nipple secretions, including discharge or retraction, and others. Anyone who develops any of these symptoms should seek the attention of their doctor, and a complete check-up, coupled with investigations, will be done to arrive at this conclusion.

Mammography

Mammography is the most typical method of image-guided diagnosis of breast cancer. It entails making mammograms of the breast to check for any growths or breast masses. Screening mammograms are those done to detect breast changes, while diagnostic mammograms are for determining specific reasons, such as lumps felt by a physical examination. Annual screening mammography is performed for women who are above the age of 40, while other forms of mammography are obtained when a woman presents with a certain sign or symptom. Mammography may not be as effective in women with dense breast tissue as it may miss tumors that are shown by ultrasounds.

Ultrasonography

Mammography is not the only imaging modality used in the diagnosis of breast cancer; another technique is ultrasonography. It involves the use of sound waves of high frequency in the formation of images of the breast tissue.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

The other diagnostic process is Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). An MRI is a test that uses a large magnet, radio waves, and a computer to take images of the breast tissue. It is helpful in the early identification of tumors and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the therapy in individuals with breast cancer.

These are taken from the suspected tumor during a biopsy process, which involves the removal of a small amount of tissue. After the samples have been taken, a pathologist takes them under the microscope to analyze if the cells are cancerous or not. The common biopsy methods are fine needle aspiration, core needle biopsy, and surgical biopsy.

Treatment

The management of breast cancer starts with a diagnosis, and a team of oncologists, radiologists, and surgeons comes up with the best solution for the management of the patient. The type of treatment option varies following the type, size, and development of the tumor, age, health status of the patient, and their choice.

Breast cancer surgery

Breast cancer surgery is the most invasive and widely prescribed form of treatment for breast cancer. Different kinds of surgery are available, such as lumpectomy, mastectomy, and sentinel lymph node biopsy. However, in a lumpectomy, only the tumor and a little of the healthy tissue around it are removed, and as much of the breast is spared as possible. In the mastectomy procedure, the entire breast is surgically excised together with the pectoral muscles. In some cases, necessarily reconstructive surgery might be done to rebuild the breast.

lymph node biopsy

A sentinel lymph node biopsy is a surgical procedure in which the doctor decides whether the cancer has moved to lymph nodes. The surgeon places radioactive material or a blue dye around the tumor; the lymph nodes that pick up the material or dye are then taken out and checked for cancer cells.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy is the method of using radiation to kill cancer cells. While its most common usage is in post-surgery, it has the desired effect of killing all cancer cells to decrease the chances of relapse. Radiation treatment can also be in the form of external radiation or by placing radiation sources within the tumor.

Chemotherapy

Moving to chemotherapy, we have a type of cancer treatment that employs the use of chemicals to destroy the cancer cells. It could be administered with surgery or radiotherapy; the treatment may be advised for patients with larger or invasive tumors. Chemotherapy as we have already seen, can either be taken through mouth or injected through the veins.

Hormone therapy

Hormone therapy is a treatment technique that prevents the effects of hormones that promote the growth of some types of breast cancer. Hormone therapies are prescribed mainly for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, and this category of cancer is said to comprise nearly 70% of all breast cancer.

Targeted therapy

Targeted therapy is also known as precision medicine and is the sole treatment that focuses on the particular genetic or molecular characteristics of cancerous cells. Radiation therapy itself is often employed alongside other treatments as secondary therapy that may be combined with chemotherapy or hormonal treatment. Some of the targeted therapies are Herceptin (trastuzumab) on HER-2 Neu-positive for breast cancer and Aromasin (exemestane) for estrogen-synthesizing tumors.

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is a type of treatment method that utilizes the immune system of the body to fight cancer. It is still used as an experimental procedure for breast cancer, but recent continued research indicates that it is useful in certain patients. Some examples of immunotherapies consist of Opdivo (nivolumab) and Keytruda (pembrolizumab).