Breast cancer screening can save you from the worst. They can also prevent breast loss. Thanks to preventive examinations, breast cancer can be detected at a very early stage.

Obreast cancer prophylactic examinationshas been said a lot for years. But still many women ignore them or fail to do them out of fear. In the case ofbreast cancer , anxiety is a bad adviser.Preventive examinations for breast cancersave lives, and often also the breasts.

Breast cancer screening - self-examination

Breast cancer can be witnessed by various changes that appear on the breast: changes in shape and size, changes in color (redness, browning), leakage from the breast. Often, these types of changes are mild, but they should be consulted with a doctor and checked. Therefore, it is good to look closely at the breasts, and once a month, preferably between the 5th and 9th day of the cycle, examine them thoroughly with your fingers, pressing a point at the point. This helps detect lumps in the breasts. Postmenopausal women should set one day to perform breast self-examination. The vast majority of nodules are also benign, but each one needs to be carefully diagnosed.

Cancer prevention - how should you get tested?

Breast cancer screening - examination by a doctor

We should visit the gynecologist at least once a year. He will perform a classic gynecological examination, preferably when he also performs a transvaginal ultrasound of the reproductive organs and collects material for cytology. And be sure to examine the breasts. The doctor's hands are more experienced than ours, they examine hundreds of breasts, and they can feel very slight lumps. A gynecologist should do a breast examination properly each time we visit.

Breast cancer: breast examinations

Basic prophylactic breast examinations include ultrasound and mammography.

  • Breast ultrasound- should be performed regularly by every woman over 30 years of age. It is a completely painless ultrasound examination of the nipples. You don't have to prepare for it. They can also be performed on any day of the menstrual cycle. The doctor lubricates the breasts with the gel which helps the lying patientsignal conduction. Then, with the camera head, centimeter by centimeter examines the tissue on the monitor. The examination can detect changes in size from five millimeters and distinguish a cancerous tumor from an ordinary cyst. Ultrasound is not a substitute for mammography. These are complementary research.
  • Mammography- should be performed once a year by all women over 40 years of age. It consists in x-raying both breasts with a small dose of X-rays. First, one and then the other breast is placed on a special plate and pressed with a second plate. The examination does not require anesthesia. The controlled breast is then positioned slightly obliquely and x-rayed. The same is done with the other breast. It is best to go for a mammogram in the second half of the cycle, i.e. after ovulation. A conventional apparatus can detect nodules from three millimeters in size. Digital mammographs allow you to recognize millimeter changes.

In both cases, the test is carried out in the same way. The difference is that the image from the digital camera appears on the monitor screen and not on the photographic film. It can be freely enlarged, viewed from different angles and in selected fragments. Suspicious changes. It happens that the result of ultrasound or mammography worries the doctor and then directs the woman for further tests.

Worth knowing

It is worth remembering thatbreast cancerdevelops around eight years to reach the size of two centimeters. With systematic control, palpation by a gynecologist, and with regular ultrasound and mammography, nodules can be detected at the stage when they are small and easier to heal. You must show your doctor any change in the appearance of your breasts. It does not have to be a cancerous lesion, but it is better to check it. 80 percent of the changes in the breasts are harmless cysts, fibroadenomas or papillomas that do not require pharmacological or surgical treatment.

  • Fine-needle biopsy- punctures a nodule with a needle 0.6 mm in diameter. When it cannot be located with your fingers, the puncture is performed under ultrasound or mammography guidance. The material sucked in, i.e. the material aspirated by the needle, after appropriate preparation, is viewed under a microscope by a pathologist. Taking a sample does not hurt. Do not be afraid that the puncture of the lesion does not spread the tumor cells or make those located in the nodule malignant. A core-needle biopsy is ordered when a fine-needle biopsy has not helped identify the type of breast lesion. The procedure is painful and is performed under local anesthesia. The needle with which the material for analysis is taken is three millimeters thick. A histopathological examination is then performed to confirm orto exclude the presence of neoplastic cells and determine the type of tumor (benign or malignant).
  • Mammotomy biopsy- is performed on a special device called a mammotome. It consists of an apparatus generating a vacuum and a needle with a diameter of three millimeters with a side cut through which the test pieces are taken, i.e. the material for the test. The woman is lying on a special table on her stomach, the breast is fixed in the opening. Due to the rotation mechanism, material can be collected from several tumor sites during one needle insertion. It is approximately two cubic centimeters of tissue at a time. Before the examination, the patient is given local anesthesia. The treatment does not cause internal bleeding. After collecting the material, no dressing is applied.
  • Magnetic resonance imagingsuch a test is done when other methods fail or the results are unclear and in women who have implanted silicone inserts. Before the examination, contrast is injected. The patient is lying on a movable platform that is slid inside the diagnostic apparatus. All lesions are visible on the monitor. Sick tissues absorb the contrast. Breast resonance imaging is not performed in patients with a pacemaker, artificial valve or other metal prosthesis, e.g. of the hip joint.

Breast cancer: operation

When a woman is found to have breast cancer, she should undergo surgery as soon as possible. In Poland, depending on the stage of the neoplastic disease, surgeries can be performed in three ways, from the most economical, i.e. excision of the nodule itself, through the removal of a quarter of the breast, to its complete amputation.

  • Tumorectomy(removal of the tumor itself, and for the patient's safety of the lymph nodes in the armpit) is performed at stage I of cancer development, i.e. in the stage of the disease when the tumor is not more than two centimeters and has not attacked the lymph nodes. The tumor is removed with a 4cm margin of he althy tissue and the lymph nodes under the armpit. The procedure is performed under full anesthesia. After the operation, the woman remains in the hospital for 4-5 days. After the wound has healed for 5-7 weeks, he must undergo radiotherapy daily. Only the operated breast is illuminated.
  • Quadrantectomy(removal of 1/4 of the breast and lymph nodes under the armpit) is performed when the tumor has not exceeded the 1st stage of development, but is not clearly demarcated from he althy breast tissue and it is necessary to use the so-called a greater margin of safety. The surgeon removes a quarter of the breast where a tumor has developed and the lymph nodes under the armpit. The procedure is performed under general anesthesia. After surgery and wound healing, zas a rule, the patient receives radio- and sometimes chemotherapy.
  • Mastectomy(complete removal of breasts and lymph nodes) - the procedure is performed when the disease is stage II and III and the lymph nodes are attacked by cancer cells. During the operation under general anesthesia, the mammary gland is removed with the glandular tissue protrusion reaching the armpit and the axillary nodes. Where there was a node, a drain is placed to drain the excess of lymph accumulating there (tissue fluid, so-called lymph). Depending on the stage of the tumor, after the postoperative wounds have healed, radio-, chemo- or hormone therapy is usually used. The decision about which form of adjuvant treatment will be applied is always made by the doctor after analyzing the current blood test results for the presence of so-called tumor markers.

Breast cancer: adjuvant treatment

Complementary treatment is very helpful in the fight against relapses. They are used in women whose disease was more developed and cancer cells were found not only in the breast, but also in the lymph nodes in the armpit.

  • Radiotherapyinvolves irradiating postoperative sites with gamma rays, X photons or electrons. After conserving surgeries, women are more and more often recommended brachytherapy, which is a type of radiotherapy. The treatment is performed in a special, isolated room. Steel needles are inserted into the breast gland in the area of ​​the excised tumor, and then radioactive iridium 192 is placed in them for 15-20 minutes. The procedure is aimed at destroying the remnants of cancer cells. The number of sessions depends on the severity of the disease.
  • Chemotherapyis taking drugs from the group of cytostatics. These are agents that find cancer outbreaks in the body and kill them. Unfortunately, they destroy adjacent he althy tissues. This treatment is very toxic to the patient, because it primarily reduces the number of bone marrow cells. It also has the unpleasant side effects of nausea, exhausting vomiting and hair loss. However, it is sometimes necessary because it reduces the risk of relapse by 25-30 percent. Chemotherapy is usually performed on an outpatient basis. One treatment lasts about an hour, and the therapy is carried out for several weeks or even several months.
  • Hormone therapyconsists in administering preparations lowering the level of estrogens or acting anti-estrogen. Such treatment is used when the cancer is classified as the so-called hormone-dependent cancers, i.e. when a cancer develops in a postmenopausal woman.

Breast reconstruction

Mastectomy women despair of being mutilated. This can be remedied today. In place of the removed breast, an expander is implanted (under the pectoral muscle), i.e. a flexible silicone container. When the wound has healed, saline is injected into it every two to three days until both breasts are even. After a few weeks, the expander is replaced with a prosthesis. It is also possible to use a Becker prosthesis containing saline, which does not need to be replaced by a silicone one. Another method is to transplant the patient's tissue from part of the latissimus dorsi muscle or the rectus abdominis muscle. After a few months, the breast seems to settle in the right place. However, it lacks the areola and the nipple. The shell can be tattooed. Some surgeons, however, prefer to transplant the lower half of the areola and nipple from a he althy breast. Older ladies do not decide to reconstruct. They prefer a prosthesis that fits in a bra with a pocket. Its shape and weight resemble a he althy breast. Can be used while swimming, but only in a bathing suit with a special pocket for a prosthesis.

Worth knowing

From the research conducted by prof. Jan Lubiński from the Pomeranian Medical University shows that breastfeeding is the best and most effective way to protect yourself against breast cancer. Each month of breastfeeding reduces the risk of cancer (even in women who carry the BRCA1 gene, which causes breast cancer) by 10 percent.

Breast cancer: cancer stages and prognosis

There are four stages of cancer development:

  • 1st degree- the tumor is less than two centimeters in diameter. There are no neoplastic cells in the specimens taken for histopathological examination. Such a lump does not always need to be operated on.
  • II degree- the tumor is 2-4 cm in diameter. There are cancerous cells in the material collected for the test and in the lymph nodes in the armpit. The operation is necessary.
  • 3rd degree- tumor exceeded four centimeters in diameter. The cancer also affected the skin of the breasts and the lymph nodes. An operation is required.
  • IV degree- the tumor is very large. Cancer cells spread throughout the body, penetrated into the he althy tissues of the chest or skin. Most often there are also metastases to bones, liver and lungs.

The advancement of the disease by even one stage reduces the chance of being cured by 25 percent. Very early cancer (stage I and II) is curable in 90 percent of cases. This means that four out of five sick women can be saved. This is why self-examination and regular checkups are so important. The smaller the change, the morepossibly an earlier stage of the disease development, and thus a much greater chance of successful therapy.

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