What is Breast Cancer Really?
Author: Angela Xiong and Eknoor Kaur
Edited by: Obehi Oniha
Published: 11/11/2020
According to the Susan G. Komen foundation, “every two minutes, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer.” Breast cancer is a common form of cancer caused by cancer cells that form in the breast and spread through lymph vessels. These tumors can be identified as lumps, bulging areas of the skin, redness, soreness, or swelling. Symptoms of breast cancer include swelling of all or part of a breast, skin dimpling, breast or nipple pain, nipple retraction, nipple or breast skin that is red, dry, flaking or thickened, unusual nipple discharge, and swollen lymph nodes.
Around 5-10% of breast cancer cases are inherited through genes like the BRCA1 gene which can cause mutations that lead to more aggressive breast cancer and the BRCA2 gene which causes mutations that lead to increased risk of breast, ovarian, and melanoma cancers.
Signs of breast cancer can be detected through self-exams, mammograms, ultrasound, MRI, and breast biopsy, but when left undetected, breast cancer will take up to 2 to 5 years to develop in women around the ages of 50 to 69 years old. Breast cancer is initially noninvasive in its early stages when it is still in the milk duct and has not grown into the rest of the breast tissue, but it becomes invasive once it has spread into the surrounding breast tissue and needs to be treated. Options for treating breast cancer include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy. If breast cancer is left untreated, it can be fatal as the 5 and 10 year survival rates for patients with untreated breast cancer is 18.4% and 3.6%, respectively. Unlike other cancers, this type of cancer mostly affects women because women have more breast tissue than men. This does not mean men cannot also develop breast cancer. In men, breast cancer starts in the ducts and glands, even though they are not normally functional.
There are four main breast cancer subtypes Luminal A, Luminal B, Triple negative/basal-like, and HER2-enriched. First, Luminal A is the least severe and tends to grow slowly, leading to the best prognosis. Luminal B grows slightly faster than A and has a slightly worse prognosis. Triple negative/basal-like is highly severe, lacks the hormones estrogen and progesterone, and the protein HER2. HER2-enriched tends to grow faster than Luminal cancers and has a worse prognosis, but can be successfully treated with targeted therapies.
Different genes are more commonly found in some races instead of others and this can lead to breast cancer having unproportionate effects on different races. In many cases, white women were more likely to develop breast cancer than minorities, but black women were more likely to develop a more aggressive, advanced-stage of breast cancer which is more likely to result in death.
Again, it is important to start checking with a doctor if you feel you are showing any signs or symptoms of breast cancer. Even if you feel healthy, annual screenings starting in your 40’s can greatly increase your risk of survival. Although not always possible, early action can help with treatment.
Resources for you:
1) https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/about-breast-cancer/
Learn more about breast cancer, myths, statistics, treatments, diagnosis, and FAQs.
2) https://www.bcrf.org/covid-19-resources-breast-cancer-community
Resources and tips for dealing with breast cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn about nutrition, managing stress, how to stay active, mindful techniques, and hear from frontline workers.
3) https://giving.side-out.org/campaigns/16875
Donate to research for stage IV breast cancer through the Side-Out organization.
4) https://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-fundraising
Looking to host your own fundraiser for breast cancer? Check out this link for tips on how to effectively fundraiser, and ways you can start right now.
5) https://malebreastcancercoalition.org
Breast cancer affects men too. Hear the stories of these men who are survivors of breast cancer.
Visit this website for information about breast cancer and the many ways that you can get involved.