Breast cancer (or BC) is the most common malignant neoplasm among women, in which he althy glandular tissue degenerates into malignant cells. The development of breast cancer provokes an active and completely uncontrolled division of atypical cancer cells. With untimely and improper treatment, the tumor can grow quite quickly, even grow into the chest, muscles and skin. What are the stages of breast cancer and how are they treated? The answers to these and other questions are given in this article.
Reasons
During the development of this disease, it is very difficult to identify its root cause. Cancer can appear due to many factors. Here are the main ones:
- Age. The older the woman, the greater the chance of getting cancer, more than 80% of cancer cases occur after menopause.
- Genetic factor. Cancer is most often observed in those women whose loved ones also faced the same misfortune.
- If the menstrual cycle began very early (at ten or eleven years old) or menopause occurred after fifty years, then this is very dangerous for the woman's he alth, since the action of the estrogen hormone lasted for a very long time.
- If a woman was never able to give birth to a child. The woman who had an abortionchildless or giving birth for the first time after the age of thirty-five is also at risk of developing breast cancer.
- Breastfeeding is also very important. If a woman breastfed her baby, then she is less at risk of developing a malignant tumor.
- Overweight. When menopause has come, it is necessary to monitor your weight, as extra pounds can also adversely affect he alth.
Symptoms
Symptoms of the disease are determined by its stage: take into account the size, prevalence, and the presence of metastases. Since the first two stages are usually not obvious, breast cancer is usually diagnosed by a mammogram or x-ray, which should be performed annually.
Very indicative signs of cancer are the presence of seals, and a woman can identify them herself by probing her breasts.
At a later stage, other signs may appear: soreness and bumps in the chest, discoloration of the skin and their structure, swelling in the armpits, discharge from the nipples and their retraction.
The tumor, growing in size, can be seen with the naked eye. The breast can become hard, painful, and swollen as a result of the growth of malignant cells in its tissue.
At the latest - stage 4 breast cancer - there is metastasis of malignant cells to the lymph nodes, as well as other organs: the brain (muscle weakness), bones (pain in large joints and back), lungs(shortness of breath and prolonged cough), kidneys and liver (feeling of heaviness in the abdomen, bloating). The skin over the enlarged tumor may become necrotic, and ulcers appear on the chest that do not heal well.
Diagnosis
In the early stages of breast cancer, self-diagnosis is very important. Self-diagnosis should be carried out more often if a woman is over 35 years old. Although at the initial stage the disease does not manifest itself much, do not be lazy to examine your chest for:
- seals (one or more);
- single breast augmentation;
- appearance of the so-called "lemon peel";
- discharge from the nipples, often bloody;
- chest pain;
- nipple retraction.
If you find any of the above, contact a specialist immediately. In addition to palpation and examination of the mammary glands, the doctor may prescribe diagnostics in the laboratory. This is a referral to procedures such as:
- ultrasound examination of glands;
- x-ray (mammography);
- tests.
These are the main diagnostic methods. It is also possible to perform an MRI or biopsy of the glands. Only after a comprehensive medical examination (examination and laboratory tests) will a mammologist make a diagnosis and give an opinion on the nature of the formation: malignant (cancer) or benign, and also prescribe the appropriate treatment. And even if you do not observe obvious deviations on the chest, an annual examination by a mammologist will not be superfluous.
First stage
Prognosis of recovery and methods of treatment of breast cancer depend on the stage of the course of the disease. Signs of breast cancer at an early stage are characterized by the presence of penetrating carcinomas that develop from the cells of the epithelial tissue of the mammary gland. The size of malignant tumors or carcinomas at this stage does not exceed two centimeters. Breast cancer at this stage is localized within the mammary gland, does not affect other organs or parts of the body. This disease proceeds without any manifestations, even with palpation of the affected organ, pain is not felt, only in rare cases, an increase in lymph nodes is possible. At the first stage, it is difficult to detect this disease, since there are no obvious signs of inflammation and organ damage.
Using the methods of mammography, you can find out in advance the presence or absence of malignant neoplasms. There are also methods of self-examination, which consist in palpation of the breast in order to check for the presence of seals. According to statistics, up to 70 percent of cases of detection of breast cancer are detected independently by patients, that is, during breast self-examination. If the malignant tumor is localized, then it is completely removed surgically, capturing a centimeter of the he althy part of the organ.
At this stage, after surgery, the following series of procedures are prescribed: chemotherapy, radiation therapy, antihormonal treatment and antibody therapy. The choice of one, two or a combination of methods depends onthe size and properties of the tumor, as well as the direction of its spread.
According to statistics, in the first stage of breast cancer, the five-year survival rate is at the level of one hundred percent, that is, all patients fully recover if the treatment regimen is followed.
Second stage
Leadership in mortality among the female half of the population is occupied by oncology. But still, being diagnosed with second-degree breast cancer is not the end.
The reason for breast cancer of the 2nd degree is the ongoing development of the disease, an increase in the number of pathogenic cells, their spread through tissues and organs. The symptoms of breast cancer are usually observed as follows: the formation of seals in the chest, discomfort, unreasonable pain in the chest, change in shape, swelling, breast dissymmetry, skin changes in the chest area, when waving the arms, pits appear in the armpits and in the region of the collarbone, lymph nodes become inflamed, the shape of the nipple changes and discharge from it appears.
The second degree of cancer development is considered initial. Main signs: carcinoma from 2 to 5 cm. It is divided into 2 substages:
- 2A- at this substage, the malignancy reaches 2 cm.
- 2B - formation up to 5 centimeters, the process can affect from 1 to 3 lymph nodes.
To diagnose cancer early, you need to take care of your own he alth. Produce palpation of the mammary glands, make sure that there are no seals. Second-degree breast cancer has clear signs thata gynecologist or mammologist will find it without any problems. The doctor can make a diagnosis during the palpation, and additional ultrasound examinations, mammography, urinalysis and blood tests, biopsy, examination of lymph nodes for metastasis, and so on are prescribed to the woman. This type of breast cancer is treated with surgery. Specialists decide whether to keep the breast or not. After surgery, tissue samples are sent for histological examination. If the malignancy has reached 5 cm or metastases are found in the lymph nodes, then chemotherapy is prescribed. This procedure before surgery reduces the size of the neoplasm, and after it reduces the risk of metastasis and recurrence of the disease. Timely prescribed chemotherapy, surgery in combination with radiation therapy at the second stage in most cases lead to a complete recovery.
Third stage
Stage 3 breast cancer is divided into several sub-items:
- 3A stage is characterized by the detection of a tumor of any size or its absence, but the presence of cancer cells in 4-9 axillary and chest lymph nodes, or the detection of a tumor measuring 5 centimeters and the presence of a small number of cancer cells in the axillary and sternal lymph nodes, or the presence of a tumor larger than 5 centimeters and the detection of cancer cells in 1-3 axillary and sternal lymph nodes.
- 3B stage. This stage is characterized by the detection of a cancerous tumor of any size.or the detection of cancer cells in the breast that caused the appearance of edema, as well as the detection of cancer cells in 9 or less axillary and sternal lymph nodes.
- 3C stage. This stage differs from the 3B stage by the detection of cancer cells in 10 or more axillary and sternal lymph nodes.
Treatment of stage 3A and operable 3B is possible both with the preservation of the mammary gland, and with its partial or complete removal. Depending on the results of the lymph node biopsy, radiation to the chest area may be prescribed. After surgical treatment at these stages, chemotherapy is mandatory.
Treatment of stage 3B and inoperable stage 3C is possible only with complete removal of the mammary gland and part of the infected axillary or sternal lymph nodes, followed by irradiation. Depending on the results of the biopsy of the lymph nodes, their irradiation in the thoracic region may be prescribed. As in stage 3A, and operable 3B after surgical treatment, chemotherapy or hormone therapy is mandatory at these stages. After a positive result of treatment of stage 3 of the disease, breast reconstruction is possible, aimed at restoring the shape and size of the breast.
Fourth stage
The most severe stage of breast cancer is the fourth. With it, neither the size of the tumor nor the number of damaged lymph nodes matters. Breast cancer (BC) metastasizes to the bones of the skeleton, with a somewhat lesser probability - to the lungs and brain. Other organs and tissues are affected much less frequently.
Treatment
When it comes to stage 4 breast cancer, then operations can be performed on it. Their purpose is changing. First of all, surgical interventions are aimed at eliminating various complications of the underlying disease. Also, with stage 4 breast cancer, radiation therapy can be used as a treatment, the main purpose of which is palliative, i.e., the elimination of pain in case of metastatic lesions of the bones of the skeleton.
Thus, the main method of therapy is chemotherapy and hormone therapy (if the neoplasm is hormone-sensitive). Of course, at any stage the patient is always interested in the prognosis of life expectancy. It must be understood that the prognosis for stage 4 breast cancer (as well as for stage 4 cancer of any other organ and tissue) is negative. The vast majority of patients die within the first year after the diagnosis is confirmed. Moreover, death can occur not only from the tumor process itself, but also from the problems that it creates. Most of the patients die from a common cold. Exhaustion of the patient, as well as pain syndrome, greatly accelerates death. If we talk about how long they live with stage 4 breast cancer, then about 10-15% of patients survive the one-year milestone.
Risk factors
When a cell's DNA mutates, it becomes dangerous. Cancer cells begin to activate in the changed cell. Tumor formations often appear in the area of the mammary gland. Increasing the likelihood of developing a malignant tumor is called a risk factor. Everyone has ittype of cancer its level of mutation, which leads to the activation of its development. There are such risk factors that a person contributes to by their behavior:
- Smokes.
- Drinks a lot of high alcohol drinks.
- Sits on diets that do not benefit he alth, but only worsen it.
- Uses drugs of various variations (inhalation, intravenous, etc.).
In addition to acquired risk factors, there are also those that are innate in nature, and a person cannot influence them in order to improve their DNA cells:
- Race.
- Age.
- Family medical history.
Scientists have not established which risk factors affect the transformation of a he althy DNA cell into an altered one. When and how cancer cells in the mammary glands are activated is unknown, it is impossible to predict the disease. There is an assumption that hormones have an effect, but this version is still at the stage of scientific research.
Complications
Cancer cells are transported through the lymphatic vessels and begin their development in the nearest lymph nodes. The blood flow carries malignant cells to all tissues and organs, which often causes the formation of new tumors - metastases. In most cases, breast cancer metastasizes to the bones, liver, lungs, and brain. The collapse of the tumor and associated organ damage can cause the death of a woman.
Prevention
Cancer is one of the mostserious illnesses. It is not so easy to cure it, and sometimes it is completely impossible. But there are ways that can help prevent the development of the disease.
- Eat more cruciferous vegetables. This is cabbage, radish. They will make the body he althy.
- Try turmeric. This product will help strengthen the body's defenses. Mix it with pepper and take 1/8 teaspoon every day.
- Include gooseberries in your diet. It has many benefits. Firstly, a large number of antioxidants, and secondly, it is rich in vitamins. This is the main thing.
- Eat soy.
- Vacuum your home more often.
- Use only regular soap. Instead of antibacterial, it is better to buy toiletry. This will help flush out toxins.
- Eat more mushrooms. This is a source of nutrients. Useful for the prevention of this disease.
- Give up sugar. There is nothing useful in it. Firstly, the risk of cancer increases, secondly, sugar affects tumor growth, and thirdly, it stimulates metastases.
- Sweets are best replaced with berries. You can try strawberries or raspberries. These berries contain antioxidants. They play a major role in the treatment of this disease.
In order to prevent the development of breast cancer or to “catch” only an emerging disease in time, it is necessary to regularly visit a mammologist and gynecologist, as well as conduct an X-ray examination. After all, how many stages of breast cancer, so many treatment options for each of them. It is also important to do a breast self-examination.
