Signs and symptoms of breast cancer
After lung cancer, breast cancer is the number two fatal disease for American women. But men are also subject to breast cancer. The actor, Richard Roundtree was diagnosed with the disease.
According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), during 2024 nearly 370,000 women will be diagnosed with invasive or ductal breast cancer and 2,800 cancer cases with men.
The ACS notes these diagnosis will be fatal for 42,250 women and 530 men. In addition, their recent research reveals breast cancer is on a significant increase for women younger than 50 years of age vs. a lower occurrence rate for those 50 and older.
ACS data reveals the five-year breast cancer survival rate, after diagnosis, is 91 percent, but drops to 86 percent at ten years, and to 81 percent at 15 years.
What is Breast Cancer?
The Pennsylvania based organization; breastcancer.org states:
Breast cancer starts when abnormal cells in the breast grow and multiply uncontrollably. Healthy cells in our bodies follow a routine: They grow and divide, making copies of themselves as needed to replace old or abnormal cells. And just as they receive signals to grow, they receive signals to die off when damaged.
But cancer cells, which are caused by a mistake in genetic material, don’t behave like healthy cells. These abnormal cells not only survive, but also divide and multiply — despite the fact the body doesn’t need them. This creates more and more abnormal cells like them, which then form a tumor.
A tumor can be non-cancerous (benign) or cancerous (malignant). Non-cancerous tumors are made up of cells that look very similar to normal cells, grow slowly, and don’t invade nearby tissues or spread to other parts of the body. Cancerous tumors, if left unchecked, can eventually spread beyond the original tumor to other parts of the body.
The Causes:
So, what causes breast cancer? The Texas based National Cancer Foundation brings it down to these basic risk factors:
Genetic Risk Factors:
Gender: Breast cancer occurs nearly 100 times more often in women than in men.
Age: Two out of three women with invasive cancer are diagnosed after age 55.
Race: Breast cancer is diagnosed more often in Caucasian women than women of other races.
Family History and Genetic Factors: If your mother, sister, father, or child has been diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer, you have a higher risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer in the future. Your risk increases if your relative was diagnosed before the age of 50.
Personal Health History: If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer in one breast, you have an increased risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer in the other breast in the future. Also, your risk increases if abnormal breast cells have been detected before (such as atypical hyperplasia, lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) or ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)).
Menstrual and Reproductive History: Early menstruation (before age 12), late menopause (after age 55), having your first child at an older age, or never having given birth can increase your risk for breast cancer.
Certain Genome Changes: Mutations in certain genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2, can increase your risk for breast cancer. This is determined through a genetic test, which you may consider undergoing if you have a family history of breast cancer. Individuals with these gene mutations can pass the gene mutation onto their children.
Dense Breast Tissue: Having dense breast tissue can increase your risk for breast cancer and make lumps harder to detect. Several states have passed laws requiring physicians to disclose to women if their mammogram indicates that they have dense breasts so that they are aware of this risk. Be sure to ask your physician if you have dense breasts and what the implications of having dense breasts are.
Environmental and Lifestyle Risk Factors:
Lack of Physical Activity: A sedentary lifestyle with little physical activity can increase your risk for breast cancer. Moving your body or exercising for even 20 minutes a day can help lower this risk factor.
Poor Diet: A diet high in saturated fat and lacking fruits and vegetables can increase your risk for breast cancer. Eating 3.5 to 5 cups of fruits and vegetables a day can help lower this risk factor.
Being Overweight or Obese: Being overweight or obese can increase your risk for breast cancer. This risk increases if you have already gone through menopause.
Drinking Alcohol: Frequent consumption of alcohol can increase your risk for breast cancer. The more alcohol you consume, the greater the risk.
Radiation to the Chest: Having radiation therapy to the chest before the age of 30 can increase your risk for breast cancer. While radiation is often an unavoidable therapy for certain illnesses, it is still considered an environmental or lifestyle risk factor because it is not an inherited trait that someone is born with.
Combined Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT): Taking combined hormone replacement therapy, as prescribed for menopause, can increase your risk for breast cancer and increases the risk that the cancer will be detected at a more advanced stage. Speak with your doctor about the benefits and risks of HRT.
In addition, select research data has indicates that being exposed to certain industrial factors can cause cancer.
The Possible Symptoms:
Dallas, Texas based Susan G. Komen Foundation, with a 40 plus year mission on breast cancer, states the following signs of possible breast cancer:
For Women:
A change in the look or feel of the breast
A change in the look or feel of the nipple
Nipple discharge
However, the warning signs of breast cancer are not the same for all women.
For Men:
Lump, hard knot or thickening in the breast, chest or underarm area (usually painless, but may be tender)
Change in the size or shape of the breast
Dimpling, puckering or redness of the skin of the breast
Itchy, scaly sore or rash on the nipple
Pulling in of the nipple (inverted nipple) or other parts of the breast.
Breast cancer is more than just wearing a pink ribbon or shirt. It is being aware of yourself and loved ones. Including taking care of those being diagnosed and under treatment.
Jeffrey D. Brasie is a retired health care CEO. He frequently writes historic feature stories and op-eds for various Michigan newspapers. As a Vietnam-era veteran, he served in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Naval Reserve. He served on the public affairs staff of the secretary of the Navy. He grew up near the tip of the mitt and resides in suburban Detroit.