8 things you should know about breast cancer

Sometimes, people do not have complete knowledge about cancer or illness and are not able to do the required treatment at the right time. Given below are eight things you need to know about breast cancer.

Inheriting Breast Cancer?

Women whose families have a history of breast cancer stand at a higher risk of developing the disease. Sometimes, due to family history of breast cancer is linked to having an abnormal gene associated with a high risk of breast cancer and so women should get themselves checked at the earliest before it’s too late.

Breast Cancer Treatment Options

The treatments done post breast cancer surgery are as follows:

Radiation therapy makes use of high-energy radiation waves to kill cancer cells and even damage healthy cells at the same time.

Chemotherapy procedure involves the use of powerful medicines to fight the cancerous cells of the breast. The medicines work throughout the body and hence there are side effects, like nausea, hair loss, fatigue and so on.

Hormone therapy uses medicines to prevent hormones, especially estrogen, from increasing the growth of breast cancer cells. There are different medicinal doses for women as per their condition.

Targeted therapy is done to strengthen the body’s immune system to destroy cancer.

Types of Breast Cancers

Breast cancer is of different types and they are ductal carcinoma in situ, invasive ductal carcinoma, and invasive lobular carcinoma. Carcinomas are tumours that begin in the epithelial cells that line organs and tissues throughout the body.

Importance of Mammography in Cancer

Mammography is using low-energy X-rays to examine the breast for diagnosis and screenings for any symptoms.

Living with the Breast Cancer

Living with breast cancer takes a toll on a woman as she goes through an emotional turmoil. The way her body goes through several changes during breast cancer treatment. After the surgery, the woman has lost an important part of her female identity and living with those scars and medication makes her depressed. Breast cancer just does not affect your body; it impacts your mind, appetite, finance, family relations, and personal life.

Life Expectancy of Cancer affected Woman.

The life expectancy after breast cancer depends on several factors. The survival rate for women with stage 3 breast cancer can be over a 5-year that is approximately 72 percent. Hence about 72 out of every 100 women are expected to be alive 5 years after their diagnosis.