Breast cancer its signs and symptoms and risk factors

Breast cancer

Breast cancer is when cancer develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, fluid coming from the nipple, or a red scaly patch of skin. In those with distant spread of the disease, there may be bone pain, swollen lymph nodes, shortness of breath, or yellow skin.

Risk factors for developing breast cancer includes obesity, lack of physical exercise, drinking alcohol, hormone replacement therapy during menopause, ionizing radiations, early age at first  menstruation, and having children late or not at all. About 5-10% of cases are due to genes inherited from a person’s parents including BRCA1 and BRCA2 among others. Breast cancer most commonly develops in cells from the lining of milk ducts and the lobules that supplies the ducts with milk. Cancer developing from the ducts is known as ductal carcinomas, in addition there are more than 18 other subtypes of breast cancer. Some cancer develops from preinvasive lesions such as ductal carcinoma in situ. The diagnosis of breast cancer is confirmed by taking a biopsy of the concerning lump. Once the diagnosis is made, further tests are done to determine if the cancer has spread beyond the breast and which treatments it may respond to.
Signs and symptoms:-
The first noticeable symptom of breast cancer is typically a lump that feels different from the rest of the breast tissue. More than 80% of breast cancer cases are discovered when the women feel lump. The earliest breast cancer are detected by a mammogram. Lumps found in lymph nodes located in the armpits can also indicate the breast cancer.
Indications of breast cancer other than a lump may include thickening different from the other breast tissue, one breast becoming larger or lower.A nipple changing position or shape or becoming inverted, skin puckering or dimpling, a rash on or around a nipple, discharge from nipple/s, constant pain in part of breast or armpit,and swelling beneath the armpit or around the collarbone Pain is an unreliable tool in determining the presence or absence of breast cancer, but may be indicative of other breast  health issues.
Inflammatory breast cancer is a particular type of breast cancer which can pose a substantial diagnostic challenge. Symptoms may resemble a breast inflammation and may include itching, pain, swelling,nipple,inversion,warmth and redness throughout the breast, as well as an orange-peel texture to the skin referred to as peau d'orange;as inflammatory breast cancer doesn't show as a lump there's sometimes a delay in diagnosis.
Risk factors:-
The primary risk factor for breast cancer are female sex and older age. Other potential risk factors includes:
a.genetics,
b.lack of childbearing or lack of breastfeeding,
c.higher levels of certain hormones,
d.certain dietary patterns,
e.and obesity.
Recent studies have indicated that exposure to light pollution is a risk factor for the development of breast cancer

Cancer disease its symptoms and causes

Cancer

Definition:-

There is no one definition that describes all cancers. They are a large family of diseases which show features suggestive of malignancy.

They form a subset of neoplasm. A neoplasm or tumor is a group of cells that have undergone unregulated growth, and will often form a mass or lump, but may be distributed diffusely.

Six characteristics of malignancies have been proposed:

Self-sufficiency in growth signaling in sensitivity to anti-growth signals evasion of apoptosis enabling of a limitless replicative potential induction and sustainment of angiogenesis activation of metastasis and invasion of tissues.

The progression from normal cells to cells that can form a discernible mass to outright cancer involves multiple steps known as malignant progression.

Signs and symptoms:-

When cancer begins, it invariably produces no symptoms. Signs and symptoms only appear as the mass continues to grow or ulcerates. The findings that result depend on the type and location of the cancer. Few symptoms are specific, with many of them also frequently occurring in individuals who have other conditions. Cancer is the new “great imitator”. Thus it is not uncommon for people diagnosed with cancer to have been treated for other diseases to which it was assumed their symptoms were due.

Local effects:-

Local symptoms may occur due to the mass of the tumor or its ulceration. For example, mass effects from lung cancer can cause blockage of the bronchus resulting in cough or pneumonia; esophageal cancer can cause narrowing of the esophagus, making it difficult or painful to swallow; and colorectal cancer may lead to narrowing or blockage in the bowel habits. Masses in breast or testicals may be easily felt. Ulceration can causes bleeding which, if it occurs in lungs, will lead to coughing up blood, in the urine, and in the uterus to vaginal bleeding. Although localized pain may occur in advanced cancer, the initial swelling is usually painless. Some cancer can cause buildup of fluid within the chest or abdomen.

Systemic symptoms:-

General symptoms occur due to distant effects of the cancer that are not related to direct or metastatic spread. These may includes: unintentional weight loss, fever, being excessively tired, and changes to skin. Hodgkin disease, leukemia’s, and cancers of liver or kidney can cause a persistent fever of unknown origin.

Some cancers may cause specific groups of systematic symptoms, termed paraneoplastic phenomena. Examples include the appearance of myasthenia gravis in thymoma and clubbing in lung cancer.

Metastasis:-

Cancer can spread from its original site by local spread, lymphatic spread to original lymph nodes or by blood (haematogenous spread) to distant sites, known as metastasis. When cancer spread by haematogenous route, it’s usually spreads all over body. However, cancer”seeds”grow in certain selected site only (soil)as hypothesized in soil and seed hypothesis of cancer metastasis. The symptoms of metastatic cancer depend on the location of tumor, and can include enlarge liver or enlarge spleen, which can be felt in the abdomen, pain or fracture of affected bones, and neurological symptoms.

Causes:-

The great majority of cancers, some 90-95% of cases, are due to environment factors. The remaining 5-10% is due to inherited genetics. Environmental, as used by cancer researchers, means any cause that is not inherited genetically, such as lifestyle, economic and behavioral factors that contribute to cancer death include tobacco(25-30%), diet and obesity (30-35%), infections (15-20%), radiations(both ionizing and nonionizing, up to 10%),stress, lack of physical activity, and environmental pollutants.

It is nearly impossible to prove what caused a cancer in any individual, because most cancer has multiple possible causes. For example, if a person who uses tobacco heavily develops lung cancer, then it was probably caused by the tobacco use, but since everyone has a small chance of developing lung cancer as a result of air pollution or radiation, then there is a small chance that the cancer developed because of air pollution and radiation. Excepting the rare transmissions that occur with pregnancies and only a marginal few organ donors, cancer is generally not a transmissible disease.

Chemotherapy against Cancer

 — How chemotherapy work in stopping cancer cells

•     In chemotherapy medicines there are nucleotides are use which has similar structure as the natural nucleotides A, G, C and T.
• —  The A, T, G and C are nucleotides are present in the cell (cytoplasm).
•  —  Within the cell there is a nucleus in which the   nucleotides and other essential substances which are necessary for DNA replication are presents.

—  Because uncontrolled growth of cell is cancer its mean during uncontrolled growth cell divide rapidly and the DNA replication process become fast in cancer cells.

•    Because replication process become fast and more nucleotides used for DNA replication.
•     In cancer treatment when chemotherapeutic drugs used the cancerous cells used those nucleotides which have similar structure to the real nucleotides of the cell but not real nucleotides.

— HOW THESE NUCLEOTIDS HELP TO STOP THE GROWTH OF CANCER CELLS?

• —        The answer of this question is that one time during DNA replication when DNA used these nucleotides of drug instead of real nucleotides of cell than DNA replication stop in the cells.

— HARMFUL EFFECTS OF USES OF CHEMOTHEROPUTICAL DRUGS.

• —     These drugs which are used against cancer have positive effects as well as have negative effect.
•  —  As it helps to controlled the growth of the cancer cell it also stop the the growth of the normal cell.