Breast Cancer
At what age should I start thinking about breast
cancer?
What is a woman’s risk of getting breast cancer?
What are the odds of getting and surviving breast
cancer?
What are the risk factors for developing breast
cancer?
What does it mean to have a genetic predisposition
to breast cancer?
What medical procedures are recommended for the
early detection of this disease?
What are some factors in breast cancer treatment and
recovery?
What are the treatments for breast cancer?
What is a
clinical trial and should I become part of one?
Also
See:
Breast Self Exam
Early Stage
Breast Cancer
Cancer
Mammograms
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At what
age should I start thinking about breast cancer?
Although 80 percent
of breast cancers occur in women older than age 50, it is important for a
young woman to examine her breasts so that she will know what feels
"normal" for finding changes during breast self-exams later in life. Most
breast cancers (70%) are self-detected.
What is a
woman’s risk of getting breast cancer?
Breast cancer is the
most common form of cancer (other than skin) in American women and the
second major cause of death after lung cancer. One out of 8 women will
develop breast cancer over the course of a lifetime.
What are the odds of getting and surviving breast cancer?
Many survival and
risks of incidence are correlated with the age of the patient and the
stage of the cancer when discovered. A report from the National Cancer
Institute (NCI) estimates that about 1 in 8 women in the United States
will develop breast cancer during her lifetime.
The present estimate
is higher than the 1-in-9 figure reported previously by the American
Cancer Society (ACS), primarily due to the inclusion of the oldest age
groups in the new calculations. The 1-in-9 estimate used a cutoff age of
85 years, but the new 1-in-8 figure (approximately 12.6 percent) includes
all age groups in 5-year intervals up to an open-ended interval of 95
years and over. Each age interval is assigned a weight in the calculations
based on the proportion of the population living to that age. The
probability of developing breast cancer before age 85 remains
approximately 1 in 9.
Survival rates
really depending on a combination of health status, age, stage of the
cancer and other factors. See your physician for your own personal health
assessment.
What are the risk factors for developing breast cancer?
Risk is increased
with age, such that 80 percent of women with breast cancer are over age
50. Women who have a history of breast cancer in the family, who never
have had children, who had a first child after age 30, who began
menstruation before age 12 or who complete menopause after age 55 are also
at increased risk of breast cancer. Heavy alcohol consumption and obesity
have also been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer.
What does it mean to have a genetic predisposition to breast cancer?
Genes contain the
hereditary information that is passed down from parent to child. They
serve as the blueprint for many features. Everyone has two copies of a
gene called BRCA1 in the cells of their body, one inherited from their
mother and one from their father. In most people, both BRCA1 genes
function normally. But in some individuals, one copy carries a
misspelling. This change, or alteration, can occur at hundreds of
different sites along the BRCA1 gene. Some of these changes make a person
more at risk for developing breast or ovarian cancer, and may possibly be
associated with cancers of the colon and prostate.
In a recent research
study, one particular alteration in BRCA1, known as 185delAG, was found to
occur more frequently in a group of Jews of Eastern European descent
(Ashkenazi Jews) than among other ethnic groups in the study.
Approximately 1 percent of Ashkenazi individuals were found to carry this
alteration in this preliminary study. The National Cancer Institute and
the National Center for Human Genome Research will soon begin another
research study of the Ashkenazi Jewish population to determine exactly how
common this alteration is and how often this alteration is related to the
incidence of breast cancer and ovarian cancer.
What we know and
don't know about BRCA1 alterations:
Known: Most people
who develop breast cancer, including those in the Jewish population, have
normal BRCA1 genes. In fact, only about 5-10 percent of all breast cancer
cases appear to be inherited and not all of these are related to BRCA1.
BUT, Although certain to be fairly low, the exact
percentage of inherited breast and ovarian cancers in the Jewish
population is not known.
Known: Women with a
strong family history of breast and/or ovarian cancer who have inherited
an alteration in BRCA1 have a substantial risk of developing breast and/or
ovarian cancer. This often occurs at an unusually early age, for instance,
before menopause. BUT, The cancer risks for an individual
without a strong family history who is found to carry the 185delAG
alteration is not known. There are other factors such as lifestyle,
hormonal factors, environmental influences, and other inherited traits
that affect cancer risks. As testing for alterations in the BRCA1 gene
becomes available to researchers, the interaction of these factors can be
studied.
Known: Not all women
who carry the BRCA1 alteration will develop breast or ovarian cancer
BUT, the alteration is not the single cause of disease,
only a contributing factor. There must be other factors, yet unknown, that
affect the development of cancer in addition to having an altered BRCA1
gene. Therefore, people who carry the altered gene are said to have a
susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer.
Known: If a woman
tests negative for an alteration in BRCA1, she may still get breast
cancer. On average, a woman has a one in eight lifetime risk of developing
breast cancer. BUT, All the genes that may increase a
woman's risk of breast and ovarian cancer have not been identified and,
therefore, cannot be tested for.
What medical procedures are recommended for the early detection of
this disease?
As a matter of
routine, women should perform monthly breast self-examinations, go for a
breast exam by a doctor or nurse, and have a mammogram (an x-ray picture
of the breast that can detect breast cancer when it is in its earliest,
most treatable stage, up to 2 years before a lump can be felt) performed
every 1 to 2 years. This will increase the chance of discovering breast
cancer early. When detected and treated at an early stage, chances for
survival will increase and the woman will have more options for treatment.
What
are some factors in breast cancer treatment and recovery?
Your chance of
recovery (prognosis) and choice of treatment depend on the stage of your
cancer (the size of the tumor and whether it is just in the breast or has
spread to other places in the body), the type of breast cancer, certain
characteristics of the cancer cells, and whether the cancer is found in
your other breast. Your age, weight, menopausal status (whether or not you
still have menstrual periods), and general health can also affect your
prognosis and choice of treatment.
What are
the treatments for breast cancer?
There are treatments
for all patients with breast cancer. Four types of treatment are used:
surgery (taking out the cancer in an operation), radiation therapy (using
high-dose x-rays to kill cancer cells), chemotherapy (using drugs to kill
cancer cells), and hormone therapy (using hormones to stop the cells from
growing). Biological therapy (using your body’s immune system to fight
cancer) and bone marrow transplantation are now being tested in clinical
trials. Several treatments may be combined, and specific treatment
recommendations depend on the type and location of the tumor, the stage at
which it has been detected, and the patient’s age and general health.
What is a clinical trial and
should I become part of one?
Before you start
treatment for breast cancer, you may want to think about taking part in a
clinical trial, a study that uses new treatments to care for patients.
Each study is based on past studies and on what has been learned in the
laboratory. Clinical trials are undertaken to find new and better ways to
help cancer patients. If clinical trials show that the new treatment is
better than the treatment currently being used, the new treatment may
become the standard treatment.
from
The Office On Women's Health - US Department of Health and Human Services
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