Malignant breast cancer and its stages is the most common type of cancer in the world

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and is an international health campaign.  Major charities are working to raise awareness of this disease and raise research funds.  Breast cancer  is the  most common type of cancer in the world, with 685,000 deaths in 2020, and at the end of 2020 there were 7.8 million women alive with this diagnosis in the past five years.  However, survival rates have steadily increased and deaths due to breast cancer have decreased, due to early detection.  Breast cancer can affect men.

Breast cancer facts

Breast cancer occurs when cancer cells in the breast get out of control.  There are different types of breast cancer.  This cancer can start in different areas of the breast.

The breast is made up of lobules, ducts, and connective tissue.  The lobules are the milk-producing glands, while the ducts are tubes that carry milk to the nipple.  Connective tissue consists of fibrous and fatty tissue that surrounds the ducts and tubes.

The most common types of breasts include:

• Invasive ductal carcinoma - This cancer begins in the ducts, then grows outside the ducts to other areas of breast tissue.  It can spread to other areas (metastasize) of the body.
• Invasive lobule cancer - this cancer begins in the lobules, then spreads to nearby breast tissue.  This cancer can also spread to other areas of the body.
• Angiosarcoma - a rare type that forms in the lining of blood vessels and lymph vessels (part of the immune system).
• Inflammatory breast cancer - this is a rare type of breast cancer that develops rapidly, causing swelling, redness and pain in the affected breast.
• Paget's disease of the breast - This is a rare type of breast cancer that begins on the nipple, then extends into the dark circle of skin (areola) around the nipple.
• Male breast cancer - a rare form of cancer that affects the breast tissue of men, usually older men
• Breast cancer recurrence - this cancer comes back after initial treatment.  This occurs when undetected cancer cells multiply.  This may happen months or even years after the original cancer treatment.  Breast cancer can spread through the blood vessels and lymphatic vessels.

Breast cancer symptoms

There are several signs and symptoms of breast cancer, including:

• A lump in the breast or armpit that persists during the menstrual cycle.  Thickness looks different from other tissues
• A lump or lump that can be as small as a pea
• Changes in the shape, size and appearance of bread
• A change in the skin over the breast, such as dimpling
• Newly inverted nipple
• crusting, flaking, crusting, or flaking of the pigmented area of ​​skin around the nipple (areola)
• Redness or pitting of the skin of the breast or nipple
• A hard, marble-like area under the skin
• A fluid or blood-stained discharge from the nipple Some people don't notice any signs, which is why a mammogram is so important.

Breast Cancer Diagnosis 

Your doctor will perform a breast exam and ask you about your family and medical history and any symptoms.  Tests that may be ordered include:

• A mammogram will reveal changes or abnormal growths in the tissues.
• Ultrasound imaging uses sound waves to take pictures of breast tissue.
• A positron emission tomography (PET) scan uses a dye to highlight any suspicious areas.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses magnets and radio waves to get clear, detailed images.  If your doctor sees anything suspicious on any imaging test, he or she will take a biopsy of your breast tissue.

breast cancer stages

Several factors help describe any cancer, which is determined by several factors including the tumor's size and location, which includes the tumor's size and location and whether it has spread to other areas.

 The main stages of breast cancer are:

• Stage 0 - This is a non-invasive disease that means the cancer is still in the breast ducts.
• Stage - Cancer cells are found in nearby breast tissue.
• Stage II - the tumor is either smaller than 2cm in size and has spread to the armpit lymph nodes or it can be larger than 5cm but has not spread.
• Stage III - The cancer has spread and may have invaded nearby lymph nodes and tissues, but has not reached distant organs.
• Stage IV - The cancer has spread in the body to the bones, liver, lungs, or brain.  This is also called metastatic breast cancer.

Breast cancer risk factors

There are many potential risk factors for this cancer, including:

• Family history or genetics - If your siblings, parents, or children have been diagnosed with breast cancer, your risk of breast cancer is 5% to 0% greater than that of breast cancers due to an abnormal gene transmitted, which can be detected through genetics testing.
• Women 55 years of age or older
• Smoking, like tobacco, has been linked to various types of cancers.
• Obesity can increase your risk.
• Radiation exposure if you have had radiation therapy, especially to the head, neck or chest area.
• Hormone replacement therapy (a combination of estrogen and progesterone)
• Starting menstruation before age 12.
• Menopause begins at an older age.
• not carried before.
• The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has identified a possible link between breast implants and anaplastic large cell lymphoma, but it is not common.

Breast cancer treatments

Breast cancer treatments may include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, and targeted drug therapies.

Surgical procedures may include:

• Lumpectomy - partial mastectomy, which removes the tumor and a small area of ​​adjacent healthy tissue
• Mastectomy - removal of the entire breast, the surgeon can preserve the nipple (areola) as some women may opt for immediate or delayed breast reconstruction immediately.
• A sentinel lymph node biopsy may be done with a lumpectomy or mastectomy to prevent removal of noncancerous lymph nodes.
• Axillary lymph node dissection - It is performed when multiple lymph nodes are cancerous, this means removal of many lymph nodes under the arm.
• Modified radical mastectomy - the entire breast plus the nipple is removed, along with the lymph nodes under the arm, but the chest muscle remains intact.  Breast construction is still an option.
• Radical mastectomy - this procedure is rarely done today unless breast cancer has spread to the muscles in your chest wall where the entire breast, nipple, underarm lymph nodes and chest wall muscles are removed.  The patient can still have breast reconstruction.
• Chemotherapy to reduce the mass may be ordered before surgery.  Radiation therapy is usually ordered after a lumpectomy.  Some types of breast cancer use hormone therapy.  Immunotherapy is used because the strength of your own immune system can target cells to attack breast cancer cells.  Targeted drug therapy is another treatment that is also used.