Treatment of Breast Cancer

Breast cancer treatment depends on cancer stage. Now there are vast options for treatment of breast cancer like chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, surgery, radiation therapy, targeted therapy.
Treatment of ductal carcinoma in situ
Before proceeding, we should know what ductal carcinoma in situ is. It is a stage of breast cancer where cancer cells found only in the lining of breast duct. It is not spreading outside the duct or not invading other tissues of breast.
At this stage treatments used to given are,
Breast conserving surgery in which parts of breast or lump or some tissue-surrounding lump with lump are removed
Radiation therapy,
Total Masectomy
In some cases, radiation therapy and breast conversing surgery were done with tamoxifen or without tamoxifen drug.
Treatment of Lobular carcinoma in situ
Lobular carcinoma in situ is a stage of breast cancer, in which tumor cells or cancer cell found in lobules of breast. There is least possibility of invasion of this cancer but there is risk of spreading it from one breast to other breast.
Tamoxifen used for treatment of Lobular carcinoma in situ.
In some cases both the breast are removed to stop spreading of disease this is known as Bilateral prophylactic masetectomy.

Breast Cancer and Symptoms

When cells of breast multiply abnormally and cause malignant tumor then it is known as breast cancer.
In case of breast cancer the tumor generally develop in the duct which carry milk to nipple or in lobules which are milk producing glands.
Breast cancer is second most common cancer in world after lung cancer.
According to a data, about 192,370 cases are diagnosed with breast cancer and 40,170 will die of breast cancer in 2009 in US.
Symptoms of breast cancer
More often breast cancer diagnosed by presence of lump around breast tissue. More than 80% women diagnosed with breast cancer had found lump in their breast before diagnosis.
Some time lumps found in armpit are also indicating sign of cancer.
There are other kind of breast cancer where lumps generally do not form like inflammatory breast cancer and paget disease of breast.
In case of Inflammatory breast cancer, the breast look like peel of orange due to blockage of lymph nodes.
In case of Paget disease of breast, there is a scaly rash around nipple, often misdiagnosed as eczema . Some time there was painful itching sensation. The skin become red around nipple or areola.
Other breast cancer symptoms include, inverted nipple, change in shape of breast or nipple, spontaneous liquid discharge from nipple other than milk.
The discharge may contain blood or it may be clear.
My suggestion is if there are any kind of changes in breast then one should immediately consult physician.

Treatment and Diagnosis of Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Diagnosis of IBC or inflammatory Breast Cancer
Inflammatory breast cancer is diagnosed by Biopsy, breast ultrasound and mammogram.
This cancer is categorized as stage IIIB cancer or IV stage cancer. There is much dissimilarities in physical appearance of breast of a ordinary stage3 breast cancer and inflammatory breast cancer. IBC grows very fast than normal breast cancer.
Treatment for inflammatory breast cancer
IBC or inflammatory breast cancer treated via various methods. Generally, chemotherapy is given first to destroy or control all cancer cells of body. Chemotherapy is a systematic therapy means it affects through out the body. Then it is followed by surgery and radiation therapy. The tumor removed from body by surgery and radiation therapy destroy other cancer cells. Both this therapies are worked locally. During surgery infected breast tissue or breast is removed from body.
Other therapy like hormone therapy, additional chemotherapy and targeted therapy are given to cancer patient to block reappearance of this cancer disease.

Inflammatory Breast cancer or IBC

Inflammatory Breast cancer is a rare type of cancer found generally in case of younger woman. In this type of cancer the lymph vessels are blocked by cancer cell caused red swollen breast. As in this disease, the primary symptom is red swollen breast or breast looked like inflamed so it is known as inflammatory breast cancer or IBC.

According to a statistic, In USA one to five percent people who are suffering from breast cancer have inflammatory breast cancer

Some studies show that Afro-American women are more sufferer of this disease.

Symptoms of Inflammatory breast cancer

The main symptom of inflammatory breast cancer is red swollen breast, which caused due to blockage of lymph vessel by tumor cells.

In case of IBC lumps often not found.

The breast skin becomes bruised, some times the skin looks like pitted and become orange in color. This is due to accumulation of fluid in breast

Other symptoms include heaviness of breast, burning sensation, pain, enlarged breast,

Nipple becomes inverted in this disease.

The breast become more soft

Sometime swollen nodes found under arm and collarbone.

But the symptoms may appear due to some other reason also like injuries, infections or they may be symptoms of another cancer

After diagnosis, we can know whether this disease is Inflammatory breast cancer or not.

The most important thing is IBC grows very rapidly, so one should consult oncologist or health provider if a single symptom was found.

Metastasis and Metastatic Cancer

In simple term, spreading of cancer is known as metastasis. Before writing about metastasis, I want to write about primary cancer. When cancer begins in a part of body is known as primary cancer. At an advance stage of cancer, the cells of original tumor broke down, transport to other part of body through lymphatic vessels or by blood stream, and create tumor there. This is known as metastasis and the tumor is known as metastatic tumor. The disease is known as metastatic cancer
For an example, if lung cancer cells spread to brain and form tumor over there, then the disease is metastatic lung cancer not brain cancer. In this case the brain tumor cell resemble with lung cancer cell not with brain cell.
Since blood travels through out body, so spreading of cancer is common from one part to another part of body. Common examples are breast cancer metastasizes to lungs, liver bones and brain. Prostate cancer spread to bones.
As the cancer cells travel through blood or lymphatic fluid so, it is common to found cancer cell in blood. In that case, the phenomenon is not considered as metastasis.
Treatment of metastasis
Generally, metastatic cancer is treated with chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, cryosurgery hormone therapy etc. Sometimes it needs combination of therapy. Treatment of metastatic cancer solely depends on size, age and location of cancer. Chemotherapy kills cancerous cell. Sometimes it was give with anticancer drug.

Asbestosis

Asbestosis is a lung disease, which cause due to inhalation of asbestos fiber. Generally two types of asbestos fibers found in nature.

1. amphibole which is thin and straight fiber
2. serpentine, which is curved fiber.

The amphibole fibers penetrate easily into deeper part of lungs and reach alveoli. Alveoli is like a air sac which responsible for gaseous exchange ( oxygen from lungs to blood and elimination of carbon dioxide) . These asbestos fibers then triggered inflammatory reaction and form a scar (fiber) like tissue with in alveoli. This fibrous issue thickens alveolar wall. That’s why it losses elasticity and can’t expand or can’t perform gaseous exchange.

The severity of asbestosis depends upon how long the patient exposed to asbestos and how much he inhaled.

In more severe case, right sided heart failure may occur as lungs stiffen. It is also known as Cor pulmonale

Peritoneal mesothelioma

The inner lining of abdomen is known a Peritoneum. This lining protects abdomen. When cancer develops from peritoneum cells, the condition is known as peritoneal mesothelioma. It occurs in much lesser percentage pleural mesothelioma.Less than 30% of mesothelioma patient suffering from peritoneal mesothelioma. Generally pleural mesothelioma cells pass through lymph nodes or blood stream and cause cancer their
Asbestos and peritoneal mesothelioma
It is still not clear that how asbestos affect growth of cancer in peritoneum. But it was believed that when asbestos particle ingested somehow or when asbestos particle pass through lymph nodes or blood stream from lungs to abdomen then it triggered the peritoneal cells to divide uncontrollably and form cancer.

source:peritoneal mesothelioma