All the research concerning breast cancer that have already been conducted, have brought us some useful information. Thanks to these facts the disease can be recognized at early stages and proper measures can be taken. In view of the identifications that have become possible, one must remember that symptoms, stages, signs and treatments are the particular categories that are outlined.
SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS:
At the very beginning, there is no other method of detecting breast cancer than the self test method. This involves checking if there are any lumps in the breast and the surrounding places such as the arm pit.
You can find out if you have a cancer in the lymph nodes by checking the armpit - the lymph nodes are located in that area. The situation is alarming if there are swellings or lumps detected in the breast or in the armpit. This is dangerous as cancer in the breast starts off as lumps that enlarge. However, the optimistic fact is that 86% of all lumps appear to be harmless.
Apart from lumps, there are other symptoms of cancer in the breast, such as the change in shape, size, color and texture of a breast.
The warning signal for you is a situation when breasts develop the following:
1. formation of dips
2. development of a reddish color
3. inversion of nipples or change in shape of the nipples
4. discharge from the nipples
Apart from the above signs of breast cancer in its infancy, some people may feel physical discomfort.
STAGES:
Stage 0: breast cancer has the form of a lump in the breast and is limited to the duct or tissue to which it is attached
Stage 1 and 2: these stages include the cancer spreading beyond the tissue in which it was contained. Stage 1 basically encompasses a tumor that is spread not more than an inch across the cancer cells, and is limited to the breast. Here, cancer has not spread to other parts of the chest.
Stage 2: the tumor is under an inch across the cancer cells, which means that cancer has already spread considerably. Furthermore, the cancerous tumor may have spread beyond the breast and into surrounding areas such as the lymph nodes.
Stage 3: this stage is known as locally advanced cancer. Here, the tumor may have grown in size considerably and spread way put of the breast into the lymph nodes and to the breast bone.
Stage 4: it is the severer stage of cancer. Within this stage cancer has spread to other parts of the body. A patient has to start using therapies depending on what the doctors recommend.
Breast cancer treatments include: chemotherapy and hormonal therapy. Both of these methods have different courses of action and each of them has had their levels of success. However, chemotherapy is the more complicated one to go through, due to the fact the patient has to cope with various changes in his body as reactions are common. These reactions include: hair loss, considerable discomfort.
There are also other treatments that have had their levels of success. However, they have not been backed up by sufficient scientific data.
