Breast cancer remains a major health concern for women, but the emergence of modern therapies--coupled with early detection methods--increase the chance of surviving the disease.
Breast cancer survival rates are increasing.
History of Treatment
In the 1890s, surgeons began to view breast cancer as a curable disease rather than a death sentence with the development of a surgical technique known as the radical mastectomy, according to Appalachian State University. The procedure entails removing an entire affected breast or breasts. During the 1960s and '70s, the medical field began to question the drastic nature of the procedure and its side effects, which include chronic pain and loss of muscle mass. Surgeons then began developing less-invasive surgeries and therapies.
Types of Therapy and Treatment
Today, patients and doctors can choose from a plethora of therapies and treatments designed to battle various strains of breast cancer. Surgery remains a leading form of treatment, particularly following the early detection of breast cancer, according to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Radiation therapy--using high-energy radiation rays to kill cancer cells--often compliments surgical removal of tumors to help eradicate cancer not physically removed by surgeons' knives. Chemotherapy uses a combination of drugs to poison and kill cancer cells, the drawback being that healthy human cells, such as those that produce hair, also can be affected in the process. Neoadjuvant therapy is a type of chemotherapy used prior to surgery to shrink cancerous tumors before removal. In some cases, tumors depend upon female sex hormones for growth. Hormone therapy can kill cancerous tumors by cutting off the tumors' access to estrogen.
Why It's Important
The Mayo Clinic reports that aside from skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer occurring in U.S. women. Each year, doctors diagnose more than 180,000 women with breast cancer, and more than 43,000 die from the disease, according to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. This makes the use and advances of breast cancer treatment and therapy essential for survival.
Detection Methods
One of the most medically recommended forms of breast cancer detection remains breast self-exams, typically achieved by a woman using her eyes and hands to examine her breasts for lumps or other irregularities. Mammography, photographing the inside of the breast to check for tumors and other growths, also is recommended among certain age groups and others at higher risk for breast cancer.
Who's At Risk
Cedars-Sinai lists several risk factors for the formation of breast cancer, including merely being female. About 75 percent of all breast cancer cases originated in women older than 50, making age one of the leading risk factors. Women whose mothers or sisters developed breast cancer, never had children or birthed children after the age of 30 all fall into higher risk categories.
Tags: breast cancer, according Cedars-Sinai, according Cedars-Sinai Medical, breast cancer, breast cancer, cancerous tumors, Cedars-Sinai Medical
