17 Oct 2010

Symptoms of Breast Cancer

Symptoms of Breast Cancer - Use of mammography is widely have increased the number of findings on breast cancer before they cause symptoms, but some still unanswered.

The most common sign of breast cancer is a new lump or mass. A painless lump, hard, and has uneven edges is more likely cancer. But some cancer soft, soft, and rounded. So it is important to see a doctor immediately if you find something unusual symptoms in your breast.

Other signs of breast cancer are as follows:
* Swelling in whole or partial breast
* Skin irritation
* Breast pain
* The nipple pain or nipple sinking into the
* The skin on the breast or nipple color: reddish, scaly skin, or thickened
* The release of fluid / blood from the nipple (other than milk)

Sometimes breast cancer can spread to the lymph nodes under the arm and causing a lump or swelling in the armpit, even before the tumor / lump in the breast clearly visible / palpable.

See a doctor immediately if you experience the signs above. Usually, in addition to physical examination and mammography, your doctor may need to do some more tests, such as below:

Breast Cancer Imaging Tests
Breast Ultrasound: Ultrasound uses sound waves. Echoes of sound waves captured by the computer to create images / imaging organs on a computer screen. Ultrasound is a good test used in conjunction with mammography. Ultrasound helps distinguish between cysts and solid masses in the breast.

Ductogram (also called galactogram): This is a special type of X-rays are sometimes used to find the cause of discharge from the nipple. A very thin plastic tube placed into the opening duct in the nipple. Dye is then injected to see a display duct on the X-ray image. This helps detect the tumor in the channel. Usually the fluid is also tested to investigate the existence of cancer cells.

Biopsy
Biopsy was performed when other tests give a strong indication that you have breast cancer. Biopsy there are several types:

Fine needle aspiration biopsy (fine needle aspiration biopsy): Fluid / tissue removed from the lump through a fine needle and then examined under a microscope by a pathologist.

If the biopsy does not give a clear answer, or your doctor is still not convinced, a second biopsy, or various types of biopsies may be required.

Core needle biopsy (core needle biopsy): The needle that is used for this test is greater than the fine needle biopsy. It is used to appoint one or more core networks. A biopsy was performed under local anesthesia in patients.

Vacuum-assisted biopsy: performed as an outpatient procedure. Does not require stitches, and there is little scarring. This method is usually raised more tissue than core needle biopsy.

Surgical biopsy: Sometimes it takes surgery to remove all or part of the lump so it can be seen under a microscope. The whole mass as well as some surrounding normal tissue can be taken out. This can be done as outpatient and using local anesthesia.

Networks that have been raised through a biopsy will be examined in the laboratory by a pathologist to see whether it is benign (not cancer) or cancer. If it is not cancer, then no further treatment is needed. If cancer, a biopsy can help to inform the type of cancer and show whether the cancer is invasive or not.

Grade Breast Cancer
If cancer, biopsy samples are also given an assessment / grades 1-3. Cancers that look more like normal breast tissue tends to grow and spread more slowly. As a rule, lower grade means the cancer is slow growing, while a higher grade means the cancer is growing faster. Grade help predict the outcome (prognosis) for women. Tumor grade is one factor that will be considered for treatment / post-operative treatment.

Hormone Receptor Status
Receptors are proteins on the outer surface of cells that can be attached to the hormones in the blood. Estrogen and progesterone are hormones that are often attached to the receptor some breast cancer cells as fuel for their growth. Biopsy sample can be tested to see whether cancer cells have receptors for estrogen and / or progesterone. If not, is often referred to as ER-positive. This means that these cancers tend to have a prognosis / outcome is better and they are much more likely to respond to hormone therapy. Approximately 2 of 3 breast cancer have at least one receptor.

HER2/neu status
About 1 in 5 breast cancers have too much protein called HER2/neu. Tumors with increased HER-2/neu called "HER2-positive." This cancer tends to grow and spread more quickly than other breast cancers.

HER2/neu testing should be performed on all women newly diagnosed with breast cancer too. With HER2-positive cancer can be treated with targeted therapy drugs, such as trastuzumab (Herceptin ®) and lapatinib (Tykerb ®).

Other laboratory tests may also be done to help find out how fast the cancer grows and what treatment options may work best.

Test Pattern Gen (gene patterns)
Research shows that the pattern of a number of genes at the same time can help determine if newly diagnosed breast cancer tends to return after the first treatment or not. This can help when deciding whether further treatment, such as adjuvant chemotherapy is necessary. Now there are 2 types of tests - the Oncotype DX ® and MammaPrint ®. Doctors may choose to use or not use these test types. Research to examine whether the pattern of this gene test really helps is still ongoing.

Stage Breast Cancer
Stadium is the process of finding out how widespread the cancer is discovered at the time. Stage of cancer is the most important factor in choosing treatment options. This stage is based on whether the cancer is invasive or non-invasive, tumor size, how many lymph nodes involved, and whether it has spread to other parts of the body.

Test to determine the spread of breast cancer
Doctors may use one or more of the following tests to determine whether the cancer had spread.
* X-ray chest: to find out whether the cancer has spread to the lungs.
* Bone Scan: to find out whether the cancer has spread to the bone.
* CT scan (computed tomography)
* MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)
* Ultrasound and Mammography
* PET scan (positron emission tomography)

Determination of Stage Cancer by TNM system
The most common system used to describe the stages of breast cancer is the TNM system. These systems take into account tumor size and distribution (T), whether the cancer has spread to lymph nodes (N), and whether it has spread to distant organs (M, for metastasis). Numbers after the T, N, and M provides details about cancer.

All this information is combined in a process called stage grouping. Phase is then expressed as Roman numerals. After stage 0 (carcinoma in situ), the other stages I through IV (1-4). A few steps further divided using the letters A, B, and C. As a rule, the lower amount, less the cancer has spread. A number higher, such as stage IV (4), means the cancer is more advanced. Cancer with the same stages tend to have similar views and often treated the same way.

After seeing the results of your tests, your doctor will tell you stage your cancer. Stage breast cancer can be complex. Make sure you request an explanation from your doctor for your cancer stage in a way that you can understand. This will help you both decide the best treatment.

Stage of cancer
O is called non-invasive breast cancer. There are 2 types, namely DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) and LCIS
I small invasive cancers (tumor size >2 cm and not attack the lymph nodes)
II invasive cancer (tumor size 2-5 cm and had attacked the lymph nodes)
III large invasive cancer (tumor size >5 cm and had a lump protruding into the surface of the skin, broken or bloody / purulent) Cancer cells have bermetastesis
IV spread to other organs like lungs, liver, bone or brain

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