Mammogram Effectiveness vs. Ultrasound

December 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Mammogram Effectiveness & Risks

Mammogram is still the most highly recommended scan for increasing the rates of early detection of breast cancer. Mammograms can show almost all kinds of breast cancer, and they are more specifically tuned to see tumors that are in fact cancerous. Other scans may produce more false-positives and therefore more unnecessary biopsies.

While the increased use of mammograms has lead to an increase of early detection of breast cancer, there are some doctors that are concerned about the use of mammograms. There is a chance that having annual mammograms will actually increase the likelihood of developing breast cancer. Women who are exposed to x-rays are at a higher risk of developing cancer, and mammograms are x-rays.

Additionally, in July of 2011 a study released showed that mammograms miss 20% of cancers in women. The study also determined that high rates of false positives also come from mammograms, especially with CAD technology, which allows doctors to view the mammogram digitally.

While annual mammograms are recommended for women over 40, there is a good chance that that many annual mammograms will do a lot of harm and perhaps less good than previously understood.

Mammogram vs. Ultrasound

Ultrasound technology uses virtually harmless sound waves to see inside the body. Most people know about ultrasounds because they are used to see unborn babies inside a woman’s womb. Ultrasounds allow a doctor to see what is happening in real time, and they are used to conduct biopsies because the doctor can see what is inside the breast and see where their biopsy needle is in relation to a growth.

The primary reason that mammogram is recommended over ultrasound for breast cancer detection is that ultrasounds can in fact see more and see it better than mammograms. That may sound backwards, but the concern is that with an ultrasound a women is more likely to have a false-positive. This means that a women may have a biopsy and find out that the growth is not cancerous. As more studies are released to show that false positives with mammograms are also common, it may turn out that an ultrasound is the better option.

Mammogram vs. MRI

These days, specialists in MRI scans for breast cancer can get the best imaging available for detection of breast cancer. The same problems exist as with ultrasound and mammogram: MRIs can produce many false positives and unnecessary biopsies. Additionally, MRI scans are very expensive. An MRI may not have the same negative effects as a mammogram, as mammograms are x-rays and are known to be harmful with overuse, however the price difference is significant.

How Often Should I Get a Mammogram?

Women who are at high risk of developing breast cancer should be screened annually starting when they are 40 years of age. The option of having a mammogram or an ultrasound may be an important decision, especially if your risk factors include high exposure to radiation as a child due to childhood cancer. Ultrasound is essentially harmless and should be considered for women who are at a high risk of developing breast cancer, as well as those who do not have high risk factors.

Women who are not at a high risk of developing breast cancer are recommended to have a mammogram once every two years starting at the age of 40, increasing to once per year after the age of 50. If a women prefers, she can probably have an ultrasound instead. Ask your doctor about the relative benefits of an ultrasound and a mammogram, and ask about the relative risks.

The fact remains that the increase in early detection of breast cancer has probably had more to do with the increase in breast cancer awareness and the number of women conducting breast self exams than anything else. Knowing how to do a breast self exam and knowing what to do if you find a lump in your breast are the most important ways to detect breast cancer early and get prompt and effective treatment.

What Risk Factors Should I Be Aware of?

There are many things that can increase the likelihood that a woman will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. Some of these are environmental, such as having had childhood cancer which was treated with chemotherapy and radiation. Other factors are genetic and can be screened for. If you have a history of breast cancer in your family, or any other kind of cancer, getting screened will help to determine your risk factors.

Genetically effected cancers have to do with two genes, known as BRCA 1 and BRCA 2. These genes actually suppress the growth of cancer cells and therefore tumors. Everyone has cancer cells in their bodies, but the body is built to suppress those cells. In people who have a mutation of the BRCA 1 or 2 gene, the built in anticancer capabilities are reduced. If you have a mutation of the breast cancer genes, you should have annual screenings starting at age 40.

Another form of breast cancer is caused by hormone-receptor-positive cancer cells. This means that the cancer cells respond to hormones, estrogen and progesterone, by growing and reproducing, forming tumors. Women should be cautious of anything that increases the intake of estrogen, such as using estrogen to reduce the symptoms of menopause. Girls who start their period before the age of 12 and women who don’t have menopause until after the age of 55 are also at a much higher risk of developing hormone-receptor positive breast cancer.

No matter the risk factors, doing regular breast self exams and going for regularly scheduled screenings with your doctor are very important. Ask your doctor if you can have an ultrasound instead of a mammogram.

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Breast Cancer Detection

December 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Recommended Screenings

Many women find out when they turn 40 or so that they should start getting annual mammograms. This is a recommendation based on the increased likelihood of older women developing breast cancer. However, newer studies are recommending that annual mammograms do not start until a woman is 50, because regular radiation from mammograms can also be damaging, not to mention the stress and discomfort of having mammograms.

The truth is that an ultrasound can tell you a lot about any growths or new lumps in a breast, and is almost as useful as a mammogram. While a mammogram is the recommended way of viewing any breast formations, mammograms cannot definitively diagnose breast cancer. They are merely a way to see if a lump is solid tissue or is filled with liquid.

Ultrasounds can tell you the same information. An ultrasound can tell whether you a lump is liquid filled, indicating that it is most likely a benign cyst rather than a tumor. If a lump is solid tissue, whether an ultrasound or a mammogram detects the lump, you will need further testing, usually a biopsy, to determine whether it is cancerous or not. Ultrasounds are incredibly safe, as they send high frequency sound waves through tissues and the sound waves that bounce back create a picture for the doctor to see. Ultrasounds are used to see babies that are still inside the womb.

Women of every age should also get annual pap smears that include a breast exam from the doctor or a nurse. Breast exams are simple and quick. Your doctor will simply palpitate, or physically examine, your breast and the lymph nodes in the immediate area, usually under the arm pit and near the collarbone. The breast exam is a systematic and simple way to detect breast cancer early.

Breast Self Exams for Breast Cancer Detection

Breast cancer detection can also be done at home. Women should learn that they can conduct a breast self exam to feel for any changes in the breast. Breast self exams are the same as a breast exam conducted by a doctor, a simple and thorough way to feel for any changes or lumps in the breast. Breast self exams can be conducted as often as a woman feels comfortable, and many women choose to conduct them in the shower so they do not forget to do them regularly.

While many women may find it funny that they are asked to feel their own breasts, the benefits are numerous and after a while women get used to the idea. If you conduct weekly or monthly breast exams, you are more likely to know what your breasts feel like normally. If any changes occur, you will be sure to notice and can get a doctors appointment right away. You doctor can help to determine whether a breast lump is cancer or something benign, such as a liquid filled cyst. Many breast lumps are not cancerous, but you won’t know until you go to your doctor for testing.

The Importance of Early Breast Cancer Detection

Breast cancer is a very serious and often deadly disease. One in eight women will be diagnosed in their lifetime, and depending on the stage of the disease, prognosis will differ greatly. Women who are diagnosed early are much more likely to make a full recovery. Treatment is often less invasive and side effects are fewer. Most importantly, treating breast cancer in its earlier stages is usually much more successful than attempting to treat breast cancer in later stages.

Early detection can mean that instead of a mastectomy, or removal of an entire breast, a woman can opt for lumpectomy, or removal of only the tumor and some surrounding tissue. The smaller the tumor is, the better and more successful this type of surgery will be. Stage 1 breast cancer patients usually have radiation or some hormone therapy, if the breast cancer cells are hormone receptor positive. This is meant to ensure that any breast cancer cells that have wandered or were not removed during surgery are destroyed. Women with stage 1 breast cancer usually do not undergo chemotherapy, which is the part of cancer treatment that causes the most side effects and can do the most damage to healthy cells.

Women who wait to tell their doctor until the tumor is larger take a terrible risk. A larger tumor may mean that the breast must be entirely removed to ensure that all cancer cells are removed, and radiation is usually suggested for after surgery. Additionally, lymph nodes near the affected breast are often removed or at least biopsied to determine whether the cancer has spread. Metastasized cancer, or cancer that has spread, is much harder to treat. Cancer cells can spread through out the body, and removal of tumors may become too much of a challenge. Chemotherapy is usually given to attempt to destroy the cancer cells throughout the body, but there is no guarantee that all cancer cells will be destroyed. The side effects and damage to healthy cells from chemotherapy can be drastic, and chemotherapy cannot be taken for long periods of time.

Breast Cancer Detection and Awareness

Breast cancer awareness campaigns happen across the country these days. The hope is that the more women know about the risks and the methods of detection, the more women will come forward and be diagnosed early. Breast cancer awareness campaigns focus on education in an attempt to save lives. Breast cancer detection, especially at the earlier stages of the disease, can save the life of the patient or at least prolong that life considerably. Many women who are diagnosed with breast cancer go on to live long, healthy, and productive lives. Breast cancer detection and early diagnosis help to increase that number.

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Breast Cancer Prognosis

December 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

What is a Prognosis?

Many doctors will use the term prognosis casually, as if it is used every day. For doctors, they do use the word prognosis every day, as it is a simple way to say what they believe will happen in a particular case of a disease. A prognosis is the best possible outcome that the doctor can predict based on their knowledge of past cases similar to the current case as well as success rates of treatment.

In other words, if you are diagnosed with a disease your doctor will also give you a prognosis to help you and your family know what to expect. If you are diagnosed with breast cancer, your prognosis could be that you will have a full recovery within months, or that you are not expected to live longer than a few months. Of course, this depends on many factors.

Prognosis is not a precise prediction of what will happen. In fact, there are many factors that may change your prognosis throughout treatment. If you have an unfavorable prognosis, you still have a chance of living a long and healthy life. If your prognosis is favorable, it is still possible for you to experience a relapse or for the cancer to become more aggressive over time. Prognosis is not an exact prediction, it is the best possible prediction based on the available information.

Breast Cancer Prognosis with Early Detection

When breast cancer is detected early, the prognosis is much more likely to be favorable. Said another way, a patient with breast cancer is more likely to recover if they notice the cancer as soon as it appears and get treatment right away. This does not mean you must immediately go into surgery and start chemotherapy. What it does mean is that you should be aware of the ways that breast cancer can be detected early.

For example, women of all ages are supposed to get annual pap smears once they have started their period. While the pap smear is meant to test for a variety of diseases, the doctor will also conduct a breast examination, specifically to detect early signs of breast cancer. If a doctor conducts annual breast exams, the likelihood of finding a tumor early is much higher than if no exams are done.

Women are also encouraged to do breast self exams on a much more regular basis. A breast self exam takes only a couple of minutes and should be painless. Many women do their breast self exams in the shower so they do not forget. A breast exam, whether performed by a doctor or by yourself, is simply a methodical and thorough physical examination of both breasts. By feeling your breasts regularly you can make early detection and a favorable prognosis more likely. If you know what your breasts feel like normally, when there is a change you will notice it right away.

Normal Breast Cancer Prognosis

For breast cancer patients, there is no normal prognosis. As doctors and scientists learn more about breast cancer the treatments are more effective. This makes a favorable prognosis more likely, but there are still many other factors to consider.

Early detection and diagnosis play a big part in the effectiveness of breast cancer treatment, and therefore can often lead to a more favorable prognosis. Usually, breast cancer which is detected early has not had the chance to metastasize, or spread to other parts of the body. Cancer which has metastasized is much harder to treat than localized cancer.

For patients with metastasized breast cancer, the prognosis is less favorable but many women do go on to live long healthy lives anyway. Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death among American women, but there are also many stories of success and survival.

Often, women are looking for something predictable when they are diagnosed with breast cancer. The diagnosis of any serious disease can make life seem unfair, crazy, or depressing, and finding out what is “normal” can bring some control back into the life of a patient. Other women just want to know what is realistic, whatever that may be. Knowing what to expect can make it a little easier to deal with the results of treatment.

Does Treatment Change Prognosis

When your doctor first gives you a prognosis, they will have already considered the forms of treatment available and what has worked best for patients like you in the past. You and your doctor will work together to decide on the most productive and comfortable treatment plan for you. Some of the decisions will be for you to make. In fact, you can make all of the decisions. Most women defer to their doctor, as they feel a doctor has a better knowledge of their options. However, it is important to also remember that you are in control and can make choices based on what works best for you.

Your prognosis once you have decided on a treatment plan will take into account past results and the generally accepted effectiveness of treatment on the type of breast cancer that you have been diagnosed with. This does not mean that the prognosis will be exactly accurate. There are factors that are unpredictable, and every woman is different.

After treatment, your prognosis may change again. If treatment is successful, you will begin to recover and you will probably continue to go back for testing on a regular basis. Testing will monitor your progress and detect a recurrence if it should happen. Your prognosis will continue to change based on the results of tests. If your treatment appears to have been insufficient, your prognosis can also change.

Dealing with a Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Nobody wants to hear that they have been diagnosed with a potentially deadly disease. The best thing you can do to deal with a diagnosis is get informed and look to support groups that can give you a good idea of what to expect.

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Breast Cancer MRI: Things You Need to Know

October 26, 2011 By Leave a Comment

MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Similar to an X-Ray, it is able to capture pictures of various parts of the body. A breast MRI is a procedure used to capture and generate multiple images specifically of the breast. The use of a computer allows for very detailed images to be generated. Images are then examined for cancer and any other abnormal findings.

Although mammograms are useful to screen for breast cancer, there is only so much they can do. Sometimes an MRI needs to be performed when more information is needed than a mammogram can provide. Or the MRI may be used in conjunction with a mammogram for people who are at a high risk for developing breast cancer.

Unlike a mammogram, an MRI can show the difference between cancerous (malignant) and noncancerous (benign) tissues in the breast. Because of this feature, there is less of a need to perform biopsies. Biopsies are procedures in which tissue or cells are removed from the breast and then examined under a microscope for abnormalities. Biopsies involve the discomfort of a needle while MRIs are painless. An MRI can also show tumors located in the dense tissue of the breast. Despite these qualities, it cannot detect microcalcifications (small bits of calcium) in the breast. Half of the cancers found by mammograms are microcalcifications.

Although breast MRIs are generally safe, there are some health conditions that need to be considered beforehand. Doctors need to know if the patient has any of the following conditions:

  •  Metal in the eye socket or the eye
  •  A heart pacemaker
  •  An implanted insulin or narcotics pump
  •  A cerebral aneurysm clip
  •  Ear implant for the hearing impaired
  •  Severe lung disease
  •  Implanted spine stabilization rods
  •  Severe gastroesophageal reflux
  •  Pregnancy
  •  Weighing over 300 pounds
  •  Claustrophobia
  •  Inability to lay still for at least half an hour

There are things that should be done to prepare for a breast MRI. The patient should expect to leave certain personal items at home or locked in a locker at the MRI facility. These items include jewelry, credit cards or anything with a magnetic strip that could be erased, as well as hearing aids (they can be damaged by the MRIs magnetic field). Hospital gowns are provided for the patients for use during the procedure. Some people may be asked to drink a “contrast” before the exam. This is a liquid that is detectible by the MRI machine as it moves throughout the body, making it easier to find certain features on the images.

During the procedure, patients lay on a flat surface inside a tunnel-like tube. The machine will start capturing images and making a distinctive thumping noise. It is important not to be startled by the noise; nothing touches the patient and nothing should hurt during the scan. The scan can take anywhere from half an hour to an hour depending on the number of images required and the quality of the images. The quality can be jeopardized if the patient cannot lay still. The technologist can hear the patient during the procedure in case the patient has any concerns or questions.

After the MRI, patients are allowed to go home and resume their normal activities. A doctor will examine the results and contact them regarding the findings.

Although they have their strong points, breast MRIs are not great for everyone. There are some women who are at a postmenopausal stage who take hormone replacement therapies. These hormones may interfere with the effectiveness of the MRI.

Certain researchers have found that when MRI results of women who are on hormone replacement therapy are examined, their breast tissue appears brighter on the results than women who are not taking hormone replacement therapy. This makes it more difficult to interpret the results. Oddly, this brightening effect does not occur in mammogram results. It is predicted that the hormone, progesterone, is mostly to blame.

Although it is never recommended to stop taking hormone therapy or any medication before consulting a doctor, it may be advised to do so. Doctors sometimes recommend temporarily ending the therapy for about a month before receiving a breast MRI, if a breast MRI is needed. This allows for doctors to better see the results of the MRI and give a more accurate diagnosis.

The role of MRIs in the evaluation of breast cancer is not agreed upon by all doctors. One small study conducted by Dr. Richard J. Bleicher at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, argued the importance of MRIs in evaluating breast cancer after it was initially detected. One of the findings from the study was that women who had breast MRIs had a delay in the beginning of treatment that lasted an average of 22 days. Although the wait should not affect the women’s chance of survival, the longer wait time can make them more anxious. The delay in treatment may be due to scheduling the MRIs or situations when biopsies are encouraged because of MRI findings.

The study also showed that mastectomy to conserve the breast was almost twice as prevalent in women who had breast MRIs. This may be due to a false positive: when the sensitive MRI machine finds something that appears similar to cancer but really is not. Therefore, the entire breast is removed just in case it is cancer. This can be traumatic both physically and aesthetically for women.

It is important to note that this was a very small study of only 577 breast cancer patients: 130 with MRIs and 447 without them. The MRI machine provides very detailed results and can be quite helpful when used in certain situations to detect or evaluate breast cancer. It is up to an individual’s physician to determine whether or not MRIs will be helpful for their particular situation.

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Breast Cancer Prognosis: Predicting Difficult Future

October 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If you have been diagnosed with breast cancer, you probably have many questions and concerns, with one question that stands out: “What is going to happen to me?” The predicted outcome of any disease is called your prognosis. The frustrating thing is that nobody, not even your doctor, knows what your outcome will be. They cannot tell you how long you are going to live, whether or not the cancer will be gone for good, or if your breast cancer will return. However, they can try to predict the outcome based on past, similar cases of breast cancer in similar types of people.

When you read or hear about percentages, remember that they are just averages, not absolute numbers. Also, prognosis is measured in increments of 5, 10, and 20 years. When you hear about a 5 year prognosis, it does not mean that you will only live 5 years; it is just a way to measure outcomes. Survival rates are measured in percentages of women who live at least 5 or 10 years after being diagnosed but many women live a lot longer. Your prognosis will most likely depend on a variety of factors.

The Stage of the Cancer

One of the first things considered in determining a prognosis is the stage of the cancer. The stage describes the extent to which the cancer has spread, if it has spread at all. Each stage affects the body differently and therefore affects the predicted outcome of the disease.

There are five stages of breast cancer: Stage 0, Stage I, Stage II, Stage III, Stage IV, and Stage IV. A cancer diagnosed at Stage 0 has a 99 percent 5-year survival rate. Each as the stages increases in number, the survival rate decreases, usually because the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. Stage IV has the lowest survival rate.

The Tumor’s Grade

The outcome is not only predicted by the cancer’s stage, but by the grade of the tumor. A tumor’s grade takes into account the way the cells of the tumor look under a microscope. There are three grades. A low grade looks most like a normal cell while a high grade looks most abnormal.

Grade 1 tumors, also known as well differentiated, have the most normal looking cells, grow slowly, and have only a small chance of spreading to the lymph nodes. Grade 2 tumors are also known as moderately differentiated and have close to normal looking cells but grow little faster than grade 1 tumors. Grade 3 tumors, also known as poorly differentiated, do not look as normal as grades 1 and 2. They also grow quickly and have a higher chance of spreading to the lymph nodes. Grade 3 tumors have a poorer prognosis than grade 1 tumors.

The Lymph Nodes

When our bodies have a build-up of bacteria or have to get rid of dead cells, the lymph system carries the harmful things out of our bodies through the blood stream. The kidneys then filter the blood and the harmful agents leave our bodies. Unfortunately, cancer can spread to the lymph nodes. When that happens, the blood system has a higher chance of being affected by cancer and carrying it to other parts of the body.

Under the arms are lymph nodes called axillary lymph nodes. If the breast tumor is small and the cancer has not spread to any of the nodes, there is almost a 100 percent chance of living at least 5 years after diagnosis. A case of breast cancer that involves a larger tumor and has spread to multiple lymph nodes has a poorer prognosis. That does not mean that survival is impossible, however.

Hormone Receptors

In a woman’s body, the ovaries create hormones that stimulate the growth of healthy breast cells. Sometimes these same hormones can be to blame for the creation of cancer cells. The hormones are estrogen and progesterone. The way to determine if hormones are to blame is to test it for a receptor. A receptor is on the inside of a cancer cell and allows hormones to bind to it.

Certain hormone treatments for breast cancer are successful. This means that cancer cells that test positive for estrogen or progesterone receptors involve a cancer that has a better prognosis. Hormone receptor negative cancer cells involve a cancer that has to be treated a different way, without the use of hormone therapies.

Statistics

Although statistics are just numbers, they help determine patterns and prognoses. Statistics show that a person’s age affects their chance of surviving breast cancer. More than half of women who die from breast cancer are over 70 years old. Increased age means lower survival rates.

Ethnicity also tends to make a difference. African American women have a lower survival rate than Caucasian women. Other ethnicities have higher survival rates than both groups but their incidence rates are lower. Researchers are trying to figure out why there is such a disparity. Some say that African Americans wait longer to seek treatment, thus giving time for the cancer to spread and creating a poorer prognosis. This is only a theory, however.

You will most likely be hearing different stories by different people: some with happy endings and some with sad endings. People will give you different recommendations and you will hear advice from both trustworthy and untrustworthy sources. As if you did not already have enough to deal with, you have to weed out the good advice from the bad advice. You will also need to tell yourself to ignore the stories that may be discouraging and simply focus on yourself. There is nobody else in the world with your particular DNA and you may react to breast cancer in a different way than the statistics show.

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Malignant Breast Tumors: Diagnosing and Treating

September 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Before attempting to make sense of all the information regarding breast cancer, it is important to learn the basics. Starting with a tumor, it often defined simply as a group of cells or tissues that grow abnormally. A tumor may be benign (not cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). The threat from malignant tumors is that the cells within them may divide and grow uncontrollably, invading the surrounding tissues and other organs in the body. When that happens, a tumor is said to have metastasized. A malignant tumor which has originated in the breast is called breast cancer.

As basic as that sounds, the process of diagnosing and treating breast cancer is not so basic. There are different subcategories of breast cancer and different ways to diagnose and treat them. The good news is that modern genetics has helped us realize that there is not a “one size fits all” approach to treatment. While the options may be overwhelming, it shows that we are making progress in the fight against breast cancer.

Symptoms Leading to Diagnosis

A person’s body will exhibit various warning signs when they have breast cancer, sometimes even before the disease is diagnosed by a doctor. Thanks to increases in the number of people who get mammograms, most people in the United States are diagnosed at the earliest stages, even before symptoms begin. The most common of all warning signs is the presence of a lump, approximately the size of a pea, in the breast area or arm pit.  Other symptoms include: darkening, swelling, or changing size of the breast; puckering or dimpling of the skin of the breast, a rash on the nipple, nipple turning inward, nipple discharge, and pain in the breast which persists.

Usually, there is no cause for concern since the symptoms do not always mean cancer. For example, benign conditions of the breast more commonly cause breast pain than breast cancer does. However, if you experience any of those symptoms, you need to see a doctor. Breast cancer is most treatable if diagnosed at an early stage.

Diagnosis

If you are experiencing symptoms of breast cancer, you will first see your physician. If he or she suspects breast cancer, you will be referred to an oncologist. An oncologist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. There are a variety of tests available to the oncologist to determine if it is in fact cancer.

The discovery of breast cancer comes sometimes in the form of a lump, which is found either through a clinical or self-exam, or through a mammography. Women over 40 years old are encouraged to have mammograms every one or two years. The detection of a lump by mammography does not mean it is a malignant tumor, however. Further testing may be done. One common test is a biopsy, which can be invasive or noninvasive. An invasive biopsy involves removing tissue by having surgery performed on the area. A noninvasive biopsy involves the use of a needle to gather cells from the lump. The cells are then studied to determine if it is a benign growth or malignant.

Grade

A pathologist is a physician who studies cells under a microscope and then identifies the presence of diseases from those cells. One thing a pathologist determines is the cancer’s grade. Not to be confused with a cancer’s stage, which describes whether it has spread to other parts of the body, the grade describes the speed at which the cells multiply.

The Bloom-Richardson system for grading is used for breast cancer. Grades are classified as one of four degrees of severity. Cells in Grade 1 tumors look like normal, healthy cells and grow slowly. Grade 2 cells look the same but grow a little more aggressively. Grades 3 and 4 cells look different and they grow more rapidly, with Grade 4 being the most aggressive.

Treatment Options

A tumor grade is used along with other factors in determining a treatment plan for your specific diagnosis. A low grade typically indicates a better chance of recovery, while a higher grade indicates the opposite. A cancer’s stage also contributes to the proper treatment. Similar to the tumor grade scale, the lower a cancer’s stage typically means a better chance of recovery.

There are six types of standard treatments for patients with breast cancer. First is surgery, which involves removing the tumor and sometimes the tissue around the tumor, if affected. A mastectomy is the removal of the entire breast through surgery. Second is a sentinel lymph node biopsy, followed by surgery. This lymph node is usually the first to be affected by breast cancer, so it is sometimes removed before surgery to remove the tumor. The remaining four treatment options are therapies known as radiation therapy (the use of radiation to kill cancer cells), chemotherapy (the usage of drugs to kill and weaken cancer cells), hormone therapy (blocking the hormones which cause cancer cells to grow), and targeted therapy (usage of drugs to attack specific cells). One or more types of treatment may be advised by your doctor.

Possible New Form of Detection

Sevan Goenezen, a doctoral student at Troy, NY’s Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, thinks he has detected a way to differentiate between malignant and benign breast tumors. He has been doing computational research with the intent to reduce the need for biopsies in order to decipher if tumors are cancerous, since biopsies are uncomfortable and invasive.

Sevan’s technique involves locating the tumors by using a radiation-free ultrasound device, and capturing images of them. The images are then studied by looking at the structure of the collagen fibers, which are different in benign and malignant tissues. He then uses advanced algorithms to compute the results in less than five minutes on a computer. As of March, 2011, he has correctly diagnosed nine out of ten patients.

A malignant tumor does not have to mean the end of your life as you know it. Advances in research have allowed for people to live comfortably, with visions of a cure on the horizon.

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