Breast cancer
caused by a genetic abnormality usually refers to an uncontrolled growth of
breast cells, when ignored, these cancer causing cells
can spread to other parts of the body. Breast cancer is found to be the most
commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S among women apart
from skin cancer. The death rates due to breast
cancer were higher when compared with other types of cancer.
It has been estimated that 1 in 8 women in the U.S will be affected by breast
cancer in their lifetime and nearly 40,920 women affected by breast cancer are
expected to die in 2018 alone.
No
More Cardiac Deaths In Patients Undergoing Breast Cancer Therapy
Patients who
currently undergo treatment for
breast cancer are at the risk of developing heart
disease over time, leading to high death rates.
Heart disease is
a side effect of the cancer therapy. However, this has been challenged by Brenner's team from The German Cancer
Research Center (DKFZ) who conducted a study from the data obtained from nearly
3,50,000 patients from the U.S cancer registries. The study involved the cases
of women from 2000 to 2011 who were diagnosed with breast cancer and treated
either with chemotherapy or radiotherapy. The results were compared with the
data from the average women population in the U.S
‘Breast cancer therapies can no longer cause damage to the heart, if they are screened at short intervals, than usual, and observed in proper cardio-oncology settings with a focus to treat heart disease at the earliest.’
Study results
from the Brenner's team were really surprising as it created a positive outlook
of life in women who undergo treatment for their breast
cancers. The side effects caused to the heart can
be managed well by the special
cardio-oncology units in the hospitals by
undertaking certain precautionary measures. These measures include facilitating
the treatment methodologies just by considering the individual risk of heart
disease in breast cancer patients.
Screening was
done at very short intervals regularly to detect the side
effects on the heart. If
signs of heart disease were found, treating with appropriate
drugs in a tertiary care setting, followed-up by necessary adjustments in the breast cancer therapy can be considered.
The benefit-risk
ratio was found to be good throughout the study as it came out with positive
health outcomes, if the patients are treated with good
medical care. Therefore, the study results strongly suggest that women with
breast cancer need not be worried about the deadly heart disease. There
were similar results with the women at
the same age without the history of breast cancer.
What
are the symptoms and signs of breast cancer?
- Presence of lumps in the breast
- Tenderness of the nipples
- Swelling or shrinkage of the breast
- Changes to the texture of the skin
- Nipple discharge
- Asymmetry of the breasts
- Red or scaly breast
- Pain in the breast
- Irritation of the breast skin
How
can breast cancer be diagnosed?
Imaging tests
- Mammography
- Ultrasound of the breast tissue
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Biopsy
- Fine needle aspiration biopsy
- Surgical biopsy
- Image-guided biopsy
- Core needle biopsy
- Lymph node biopsy
Gene tests
- Breast cancer index
- Oncotype Dx
- PAM50
- MammaPrint
Blood tests
- Complete blood count
- Liver and kidney function test
References :- What Is Breast Cancer? -
(http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/understand_bc/what_is_bc)
- Breast Cancer Symptoms and Signs - (http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-symptoms-and-signs)
Source: Medindia
