Breast Cancer Treatment in Houston, Texas

Formation of abnormal cells, which grow to form more new cells that are not required for functional growth processes can lead to the formation of a mass growth which is called a tumor. Cancer of the breast results from the growth of malignant tumors in the glandular tissues of the breast. Today, more women are surviving breast cancer than ever before. Well over 2 million women have been recorded to have survived breast cancer. With early detection and prompt appropriate treatment, the outlook for women with breast cancer is typically positive.

It is still not clear why a certain group of women develop breast cancer though others usually do not. Although the disease may be seen to affect younger women, 75% of most breast cancer cases have been reported to occur in women over the age of 50. Some of the noted risks factors include exposure to estrogen, familial or genetic predisposition, issues related to demographics (age, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status), lifestyle, nutrition and smoking.

Signs of breast cancer are hardly apparent during the developing stages. As the cancer grows, it may lead to obvious changes that women need to watch for. The most common symptoms are abnormal lumps, swelling in the breast, or lumps that appear near the breast or under arm. Other symptoms that could indicate the presence of breast cancer may include unusual pain around the nipple, abnormal discharge from the nipple, obvious changes in the texture of the breast, or changes in the skin around the breast.

Screening For Breast Cancer

The need to screen or not to screen for breast cancer can present a dilemma. This problem might not be simply medical but the matter of economics. Diagnosis of malignancy, whether initial or in a recurrent situation, is the period of greatest stress for anyone who has cancer. This crisis is characterized by sadness or depression, confusion, fear (or anxiety), and sometimes anger.

The major reason for screening women for cancer of the breast is that the discovery of the tumor in its earliest stage when medical and surgical treatment are most effective in reducing mortality. There are three most common methods used in detection and screening for the possibility of the disease currently in practice:

Breast self-examination

X-ray mammography and

Clinical breast examination

Mammography has proven to be most reliable is mammography. For women with very compact breast tissue, ultrasound and mammograms may miss tumors. For such women, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). is a more reliable diagnostic tool. A MRI presents also is a more precise means of detection of cancer in women who possess the breast cancer genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. However, the principal method of diagnosis and considered the only definitive one by many is a biopsy, which is a small surgical procedure in which the lump or part of the lump is taken and examined under a microscope to detect cancer cells.

The current science holds that cancer is a systemic disease involving a complex spectrum of host-tumor relationships, with malignant cells spreading via the blood stream, and therefore variations in remote or regional therapy are most unlikely to have an effect on a patient’s survival. Rather, cancer must be
attacked systemically, through the use of radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy
and hormonal therapy.

Women that are diagnosed with early stage breast cancer commonly undergo a treatment called a lumpectomy, which is the surgical excision of breast tumor tissue without the removal of associated tissues. A lumpectomy is often combined with radiation therapy. A lumpectomy is a surgery that preserves a woman’s breasts. In a lumpectomy, the doctor removes only the tumor and a small amount of the surrounding tissue. The survival rate for a female who has this therapy together with radiation is similar to that for any woman who chooses a radical mastectomy total removal of a breast.

In the event the breast cancer has spread locally, to other parts of the breast, treatment may involve a combination of radiation treatment and surgery. Doctors try to shrink the tumor with chemotherapy and then remove it through surgery. Shrinking the growth of the tumor before surgery may enable patient to avoid the complete removal of the breast.

In situations where cancer cells are determined to be in other areas outside the breast such as the bone or chest, the use of hormonal therapy or chemotherapy can be utilized to eliminate the cancer cells and control the disease. Radiation therapy can also be useful in the control tumors that have made their way outside the breast.

About 25% of cases of cancer of the breast recur. The National Cancer Institute, (NCI,) has advised women with breast cancer to have radiation treatment or hormone therapy before surgery, even if there is no evidence of cancer spreading to other areas. This kind of systemic adjuvant therapy, as it is called, can prevent or delay recurrences to about 30%.

Breast Cancer Prevention

In case of breast cancer, the risk of developing an advanced form of the disease can be greatly reduced by early detection.

Drugs are now available to treat or stop breast cancer. Chemo-preventive agents including Tamoxifen and Raloxifene take action to prevent the development of breast cancer simply by truncating the process of initiation and promotion of tumors genes. The antiestrogenic effect of these drugs also appears to lead to growth inhibition of cancerous cells. Chemoprevention is the most encouraging intervention for achieving prevention at this time.

More recent researchers and studies have linked low incidence of breast cancer with various environmental factors, especially diet. One food popular for its cancer preventive abilities is soy (found in foods such as tempeh, tofu, soy milk and other vegetarian meat options), but there is absolutely no clear evidence for this claim. The regular consumption of fruits and vegetables combined with the consuming less red meat (perhaps substituting with soy product) and avoiding bad cholesterol (olive oil has none) may also help in avoiding the disease.

A chemical (indole-3-carbinol or I-3-C) found in broccoli, cabbage and also other cruciferous vegetables now available as a dietary supplement may help stop estrogen-related breast cancers. An additional possible preventive measure is a use of standard doses of anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and aspirin twice or more a week depending on your prescription.

Finally, recent research has shown that exercise assists in prolonging life expectancy. The precise mechanism of action is not well understood, but it is suspected that physical activity lowers hormone levels, reduces insulin resistance and decreases weight gain, which are all factors in breast cancer.