Archive for October, 2009

Definition of breast cancer: Cancer that forms in tissues of the breast, usually the ducts (tubes that carry milk to the nipple) and lobules (glands that make milk). It occurs in both men and women, although male breast cancer is rare.

Symptoms of Breast Cancer

Knowing the signs and symptoms of breast cancer may help save your life. When the disease is discovered early, you have more treatment options and a better chance for a cure.

A lump or thickening in the breast or armpit

A change in the size or shape of the breast

Discharge from the nipple

A change in the color or texture of the skin of the breast or areola (such as dimpling, puckering, or scaliness).

Breast discharge is a common problem and is rarely a symptom of cancer. Discharge is most concerning if it is from only one breast or if it is bloody. In any case, all breast discharge should be evaluated.

A change in the shape of your nipple, particularly if it turns in, sinks into the breast or becomes irregular in shape  Read more...

There are many methods to detect colon cancer, even tissues that seem suspicious, thus lowering the risk of developing colon cancer. If this type of cancer is detected in its early stages, the 5 year survival percentage in colon cancer patients is about ninety percent. This number drops to almost sixty percent if tissues around your colon cancer have been affected. When distant portions of your body have been affected by this cancer, the survival rate is less than ten percent. So, you see why detecting colon cancer in an early stage is a must.

Even if there are several methods of detecting colon cancer, some of them are more used than the others.

One of the most common methods of screening is the rectal exam. Your doctors inserts a finger into your rectum to detect any abnormalities. This method can detect certain polyps and even colon cancer, but unfortunately it is limited to your rectum area alone.

 Read more...

Breast Cancer

Breast cancer affects one in eight women during their lives. Breast cancer kills more women in the United States than any cancer except lung cancer. No one knows why some women get breast cancer, but there are a number of risk factor

Breast cancer is a cancer that starts in the cells of the breast in men and women. Worldwide, breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer after lung cancer (10.4% of all cancer incidence, both sexes counted) and the fifth most common cause of cancer death.

Breast Cancer Causes

In breast cancer, some of the cells in your breast begin growing abnormally. These cells divide more rapidly than healthy cells do and may spread (metastasize) through your breast, to your lymph nodes or to other parts of your body

Women who start their periods early (early puberty) or have a late menopause have a slightly higher risk of breast cancer.

Women who are taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT), or have recently taken it, have a slightly increased risk of breast cancer. Detailed information about HRT.  Read more...

Today, we are going to discuss some of the risk factors of cervical cancer. They are many that it will not be possible for us to exhaust all of them, but let us see how far we can go today.

1) HUMAN PAPILLUM VIRUS INFECTION (HPV): This is the most important of all the risk factors associated to the cancer of the cervix. Doctors believe that before a woman can develop cervical cancer, she must have been infected by HPV. Some types of this HPV are classified as “high risk” because they are the main causes of cervical cancer. These types include HPV 6, HPV 18, HPV 31, HPV 35, and HPV 45 and many other. About two-thirds of all cervical cancers are caused by HPV 16-18.

2) SMOKING: Women who smoke are more likely to get cervical cancer than women who don’t smoke. Smoking exposes the body to many cancer-causing chemicals that affects not only the lungs, but other parts of the body. The lungs will first of all, absorb these harmful substances, and later transfer it into the blood stream throughout the body. The by-products of tobacco have been found in the cervical mucus of women who smoke. These substances damage the DNA of the cervix cells and may equally lead to the development of cervical cancer.

At the start of each colon cancer screening a classification of the patient’ s level of risk must be made. This risk level for colon cancer must be made taking into consideration the patient’ s personal, family and medical history. This classification is necessary to determine the most appropriate method of screening for colon cancer.

The people that have been found to have an average risk of developing colon cancer, both men and women must be advise to start screening at fifty. When being advise to start screening for colon cancer, they should also be given some details of all screening options. The disadvantages and advantages of all colon cancer screening procedures must be presented to the patient. This way, he/ she can also take part in choosing the most appropriate colon cancer screening test for them.

In case one of the colon cancer screening tests gives an abnormal result, then the patient should be advice to have a full structural examination of their rectum and colon. One of the most indicated examinations in this case is colonoscopy. However, if this colon cancer examination procedure is not possible, barium enema or sigmoidoscopy are the alternatives. If the patients that chose colonoscopy have been treated for colon cancer before or have been diagnosed with adenomatous polyps, the surveillance is crucial for these colon cancer patients. People that suffer from conditions which put them at risk of developing colon cancer should also be very carefully watched.  Read more...

Signs and Symptoms

A lump that appears in the breast that feels at variance with the surrounding breast tissue is typically the first symptom or indication of the presence of breast cancer.

The prestigious Merck Manual has indicated that, in the vast majority of breast cancer cases, it is the woman herself who first discovers the presence of a lump. The first medical indication of breast cancer, as stated in the reviews of the American Cancer Society, is usually discovered when the patient is subjected to a mammogram upon the advice of her doctor. Another indicator of breast cancer is the presence of hardened tissue found in the lymph nodes located under the armpits or in the region of the collarbone.

Alterations in the size or shape of the breast, skin dimpling, nipple inversion, or discharge from a nipple may be regarded as alternative indications of the presence of breast cancer. The incidence of pain is not a reliable determinant for the presence of the cancer. Such an observation may in fact be more indicative of other breast related issues such as mastodynia.  Read more...