What is breast cancer?
Breast cancer is a type of cancer that affects one or both breasts. Breast cancer is mostly seen in women but can also occur in men. Since the breast has many anatomical parts, the cancer can be located in a specific area. This is why it is important to have preventive measures and self exams conducted to notice any abnormal lumps.
Causes
As of today, scientists and doctors still don’t have an exact cause for breast cancer. It’s just known that cancer will develop if there are malignant tumors in the breasts that grow at an abnormal rate.
Symptoms
- Lumps around breast
- Abnormal discharge from nipple
- Abnormal growth in breast
- Any nipple change
Risk factors
Some risk factors, unfortunately, cannot be controlled such as family history or aging. Now, there are other factors that can contribute to an increase in the probability of developing breast cancer.
Below are some known risk factors:
- Being overweight or obese
- Lack of physical activity
- Hormone therapy
- Not breastfeeding
- Drinking alcohol
- Birth control
Prevention
Although there is no specific way to completely prevent breast cancer, there are a couple of general lifestyle decisions that can be made to reduce the risk of developing cancer.
Those include:
- Limiting the consumption of drugs and alcohol
- Maintaining a healthy weight
- Moving the body for at least 30-minutes a day
- Avoiding processed foods
Treatment
For breast cancer, there are both local and systemic treatments. Local treatments are going to consist in attacking the cancer cells itself rather than attacking the whole body. Here at Williams Cancer Institute, we are highly experienced in providing cryoablation. It’s a minimally invasive form of local treatment that will reduce the risk of a mastectomy.
Treatments that involve the use of drugs are called systemic treatments. There are different forms such as the use of chemotherapy and immunotherapy to deliver the drugs into the body and cancer cells. Before making any decision it is always best to consult with your physician and have them explain the differences between all treatments. Cancer is unique to the individual and is to be evaluated with such importance when choosing a treatment.
