"Dead and Gone" Charlaine Harris' ninth book in her Sookie Stackhouse southern vampire mysteries.
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
This article will appear in the October edition of the Health & Wellness special section published by The Berthoud Recorder
Fight Against Breast Cancer Continues
By Shari Phiel
Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on research, education and treatment, breast cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths for women in the U.S. Each year more than 210,000 women, and an additional 1,700 men, here in America are diagnosed with this frightening and often fatal disease.
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month and thanks to the dedication and efforts of organizations like the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the National Breast Cancer Coalition and many others, a diagnosis of breast cancer no longer carries the automatic death sentence it once did.
“Scientists are studying breast cancer to find out more about its causes. And they are looking for better ways to prevent, find, and treat it,” says the National Cancer Institute.
Breast cancer is not a single type of cancer, if fact, there are several types which are identified by the location of the cancer and the molecular make-up of the cancer cells. According to information provided by the nationally renowned Mayo Clinic, “The most common types of breast cancer begin either in your breast’s milk ducts (ductal carcinoma) or in the milk-producing glands (lobular carcinoma).”
Treating breast cancer depends on the type and stage of the cancer. Early stage cancer treatments can include external beam radiation, lymph node sampling, lumpectomy or mastectomy. External beam therapy, or EBT, delivers a beam of high energy x-rays to a cancer tumor deep within a patient’s body while sparing the surrounding normal tissues. With lymph node sampling, doctors locate and remove the sentinel lymph node, the first lymph node to which a tumor drains, for biopsy.
Other treatments may include radiation therapy following surgical removal of the cancerous growth. Radiation therapy is highly effective in destroying cancerous cells remaining after surgery and can reduce the risk of breast cancer recurrence by as much as 70 percent. There are two types of radiation therapy; external radiation and internal radiation. Of the two, external radiation is much more widely used than internal radiation.
Chemotherapy has been used to treat various types of cancer, including breast cancer, for many years because it is a systemic therapy that affects the entire body. Systemic treatments are used to remove cancer cells that may have moved to other parts of the body. Unfortunately, the side effects to chemotherapy treatments can vary from the temporary to the permanent.
Temporary side effects can include nausea, hair loss, anemia, fatigue, mouth sores and nerve damage to the hands and feet that can last for weeks or even months. The more permanent or far more dangerous side effects can include bone loss which can lead to early onset of osteoporosis, toxic effects on the heart, or even a treatment-induced form of leukemia. Despite this, chemotherapy is still far less difficult to tolerate than it was even a few years ago and remains an important tool in the fight against cancer recurrence.
Of course the key to fighting any type of breast cancer is early detection. The Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation notes, “Screening tests can find breast cancer early, when it’s most treatable.” Breast cancer symptoms vary widely from lumps to swelling to skin changes, and many breast cancers show no symptoms at all.
Breast self-exams (BSE) are an important tool for every woman in the breast cancer battle. By performing regular BSEs each month, women can become familiar with how their breasts normally look and feel and will be able to quickly detect any changes. Finding a lump doesn’t necessarily mean its cancer; in fact, 80 percent of all lumps found are determined to be benign. If you find a lump or notice any other changes, contact your physician immediately. Only a qualified medical professional can make an appropriate diagnosis.
In addition to BSEs, women over the age of 40 or at a risk of breast cancer should also have regular mammograms. A baseline mammogram should be performed by the age of 35 and then every one to two years. The Susan G. Komen foundation also notes “digital mammography was better at detecting cancer among women” who are pre- or peri-menopausal, are under the age of 50 or have dense breast tissue.
For more information on breast cancer, breast cancer support groups and resources in your area, please contact one of the following:
