Millions of women are affected with breast cancer all around the world. Breast cancer is growing like an epidemic and is predicted that 45,000 patients will die from breast cancer, this year. If you feel a solid lump in your breast, you must visit a specialist for consultation.

Breast cancer symptom:

Breast cancer in its early stages does not cause any pain. Unfortunately, in early stages when breast cancer develops, it does not show any breast cancer symptom. But as it grows, it can cause remarkable changes, which a woman should note. Breast cancer symptoms include thickening or lump near or in the breast, change in the shape or size of the affected breast, tenderness of nipple or nipple discharge, inversion of nipple into the breast, pitting or ridges of the breast, skin of the breast appears warm, red, swollen and scaly. A lady should visit her doctor if she persist with any breast cancer symptom.

Specialists diagnose breast cancer by any of the following examinations:
palpation, mammography, ultrasonography, fine needle aspiration, needle biopsy or surgical biopsy.

Breast cancer treatment:

Breast cancer treatment options depend on location and size of the tumor in her breast.

Various methods of breast cancer treatment

Breast cancer treatments can be systemic or local. Radiation therapy and Surgery are the local breast cancer treatments. Local breast cancer treatments are used to destroy, remove, or control the growth of cancer cells. Hormonal therapy and Chemotherapy are systemic treatments. Systemic treatments are targeted to control or destroy cancer cells all over the body. Different forms of breast cancer treatment can be prescribed at the same time or one after other.

Surgery is one of the most common breast cancer treatments. Many types of surgical interventions may be used. A surgical intervention to remove breast is called a mastectomy. An operation carried out to remove the cancer cells without affecting the size of breast is called breast conserving surgery or breast sparing.

Radiation therapy or radiotherapy: Under this breast cancer treatment specialists use high-energy radiation to kill cancer cells and stop them from growing.

Chemotherapeutic breast cancer treatment: specialists use different types of drugs or combination of different drugs to kill cancerous cells or stop them from growing. Drugs are given in cycles; a treatment period is followed by a recovery period that is again followed by another breast cancer treatment.

Hormonal therapy for breast cancer treatment is used to stop the growth of cancerous cells that affect the female hormones. This breast cancer treatment may include use of medicines, which change the way hormones work or surgery to remove the ovaries that produce female hormones.

Breast cancer treatment decisions are complex. The decisions are usually affected by the stage of the disease, judgment of the doctors and the consent of the patients.

Breast cancer pictures can be found on various websites and in medical books. These breast cancer pictures can be helpful to make the patient’s know about their cancer stage and the possible remedy if any..

Funds are arranged through various programs like breast cancer walk to spread breast cancer information among the affected and suspected people and to give them moral and economic support as well.

By: Tyson J Stevenson

About the Author:

[carpwp:amazon{breast cancer}][/carpwp]

Cancer cells die off quickly if they do not have a blood supply. Cancers can grow only about 2 millimeters and then will stop growing unless they have more blood vessels. There are certain proteins that function to promote the development of new blood vessels. These proteins are specific growth factors that have important roles during development. An embryo, for example, needs new blood vessels that can grow all the way to the arms and legs, in order to develop fingers and toes distally. In the case of an injury, one needs blood vessels to grow and heal it. This explains why an injured area appears red. One such protein, which stimulates blood vessel growth, is known as vascular endothelial growth factor or vascuolotropin. This is secreted by the cancer cells and then binds to their specific receptor on the blood vessels and tells them to make more cells. This will initiate the process of angiogenesis – “angio” means vessels and “genesis” which means growth. On a microscopic view, some tumors have more blood vessels than others do. The more blood vessels a tumor has, the more blood supply it has, which in turn facilitates its growth. Thus, the more chances the cancer has of spreading, because there are more “roads” to spread out on. Some researchers think that perhaps we can measure vascular endothelial growth factor in the blood or in the breast duct fluid to see if there are new blood vessels growing.

A researcher from Boston made the astonishing discovery that cancers actually secrete not only growth promoting proteins, but also growth inhibiting ones (angiogenic inhibitors). These are substances that keep metastasis under control by inhibiting the growth of new blood vessels. Thus, when the primary cancer is removed, the metastasis grows more because the angiogenic inhibitors are also removed. It seems quite odd that a cancer would produce something from itself to stop it from growing. One would always think it is in the nature of cancer to want to spread and metastasize. Cancer will grow in its own area, but will keep any cells from growing in other organs. The idea is fanciful, but cancers do not seem to like having rivals. This is definitely not to suggest that if you have a cancer, you should ignore it because in won’t spread unless you undergo surgery. For one thing, it probably isn’t true for all cancers. For another, the process of metastasis after cancer surgery is far from absolute. It doesn’t stop the cancer from spreading; it only controls the metastasis already out there.

Anti-angiogenic drugs are now being tested in humans for breast cancer therapy. One of these is thalidomide. This drug blocks the growth of new blood vessels. This is why when pregnant women in the 60s took it to treat insomnia; their children were often born without arms and legs. But if you are not pregnant and you’re an adult who does not need more blood vessels, then you may want to ask your oncologist about treatment options involving thalidomide. Several anti-angiogenesis drugs being tested nowadays may not even have the adverse effects caused by thalidomide. Some new drugs that were developed for the treatment of arthritis, such as cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitors are also anti-angiogenic. These drugs are being tested now for breast cancer prevention.

By: Michael Russell

About the Author:

[carpwp:amazon{breast cancer}][/carpwp]

Gray Soul asked:


My grandmother is in a bad condition of breast cancer, and I was wondering what she should eat, any help? Oh, by the way, any food that could kill or lower the cancer cell percentage would be great. I am a 16 girl, so i don’t know much about it, so please help!! ^__^ Thank you!!

WiSh I WeRe iN EnGLaND asked:


My family just found out yesterday that my mom has breast cancer and ive never been so scared. Ive been doing some research on it, hoping i would feel better but its only making me more scared. I was hoping someone would tell me some positive things about breast cancer like good facts and some advise on how to deal with it and help her survive because she is the most important person to me.
Thanx in advance and please take this question seriously.
she had a lump 3 months ago and they told her it was nothing but that they would have to check it every 3 months so she went back and they did find some cancer cells