Breast Cancer

BySara Medrano

Government 8th period

What is breast cancer?

• Breast cancer is a cancer that forms in the tissue of the breast. 1

• The cancer itself is often referred to as a carcinoma, which is a cancer that starts in the lining of the organs, like the breast. 2

• There are two types of breast cancer:

Definitions continued

• Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS):a common cancer that is non-invasive where the cancer cells inside the ducts of the breast have not spread through the walls into the neighboring breast tissue.2

Definitions continued

• Invasive Carcinoma :cancer that has spread beyond the layer of cells where it started.2

History

• 1913: American Society for the Control of Cancer was created to bring attention to breast cancer through advertisements.6

• 1920: The mammogram, a photograph of the breasts made by X rays, was invented.4

History continued• 1947: It was uncovered that

breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women.5

• 1994: Women who have had an abortion before the age of 18 are found to have a 150% chance of developing breast cancer.4

• Researches found out that the gene called BRCA1 can cause breast cancer.4

• Discovered that moderate exercise can decrease the risk of breast cancer in women.4

History continued

• 1995: Another gene, called BRCA 2, was discovered and believed to be a gene that could cause breast cancer.4

• 1998: It was uncovered that a drug called Tamoxifen might be able to help avert breast cancer in "high risk" patients.7

Causes

• There is no clear cause of breast cancer, although doctors do know that it occurs when breast cells grow and divide abnormally. 1

• Even though there is no clear cause, there are risk factors, or things that may increase the risk of developing the disease.

Risk Factors

• Alcohol: Drinking alcohol puts increases a woman’s chance of developing breast cancer.1

• Estrogen: Women who have had a long exposure to estrogen, specifically women who have not gotten pregnant or have gotten pregnant after 30, who take birth control, who have gone into menopause late, and who have gotten their first menstrual period before the age of 12 are at a high risk for this disease.8

Risk Factors continued

• Dense Tissue: The more dense a woman’s breast is, the more likely she is to develop breast cancer.2

• Age: The older a woman is, the greater chance she has of getting breast cancer.3

• Radiation: Chest exposure to radiation as a young child increases the risk of cancer.1

Risk Factors continued

• Family history: If a woman has had a mother, sister, daughter, or other female family member who has had breast cancer then she has a higher risk of being diagnosed with this disease.1

• Being female: Women have a much higher risk of developing breast cancer than men do.1

Impacts

• The result of being diagnosed with breast cancer is receiving treatment for it.

• Lumpectomy: The removal of the cancerous tumor.1

– Can result in lymphedema, a swelling of the arm caused by fluid build-up.2

• Mastectomy: Removal of the cancer stricken breast.1

• Chemotherapy: A medicine that sets out to weaken and destroy the cancer cells in the body.10

– May cause mouth and throat sores, which look like ulcers that can hurt and affect the ability to eat, drink, swallow, and talk

Impacts continued

• Hormonal therapy: Lowers estrogen in the body and blocking it on cancer cells9

• The news of a breast cancer diagnosis can create emotional distress.

• Prolonged treatment can eventually lead to chronic stress.1

• During and after treatment, women can start to feel less attractive.1

Impacts continued

• Women can start to feel anxiety and depression because of the excessive worry about treatment and survival.1

• One in eight women will be diagnosed with cancer each year.10

• Unfortunately, because treatment doesn’t work all the time, 40,170 women will die this year because of breast cancer.10

Impacts continued

• The 5 year survival rate of women who had breast cancer is 86% while the ten year survival rate is 76%.11

National and State Programs

• National: H.RES.395-States the federal government to raise awareness and improve education about breast cancer, encourage the AMA to increase awareness, encourage research, and continue to improve access to information about breast cancer.12

• State: Section 104145-The University of California is to establish the Breast Cancer Research Program, which is to support research to find the cure and prevention of breast cancer.13

Special Interest Groups

• HERS Breast Cancer Foundation: “empowers women affected by breast cancer, supporting their well-being with post-surgical products and educational services, regardless of financial status.” 14

• Breast Cancer Action: Creates awareness that leads to a difference in the outcomes of breast cancer. 15

Works Cited• 1:• "Breast Cancer." MayoClinic. N.p., 9 May 2009. Web. 30 Oct. 2009.

<http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/breast-cancer/DS00328/ DSECTION=risk%2Dfactors>.• 2:• "Breast Cancer." American Cancer Society. N.p., 2009. Web. 26 Oct.

2009. <http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/ CRI_2_2_2X_What_causes_breast_cancer_5.asp>• 3:• "Breast Cancer." Emedicine Health. N.p., 2009. Web. 26 Oct. 2009.

<http://www.emedicinehealth.com/breast_cancer/article_em.htm>.

Works Cited continued• 4:• "The High Points in Breast Cancer History." SYL. N.p., 2006. Web. 16 Nov.

2009. <http://www.syl.com/articles/thehighpointsinbreastcancerhistory.html>.• 5:• "The History of Breast Cancer." Breast Cancer Campaign. N.p., 2009. Web.

26 Oct. 2009. <http://www.breastcancercampaign.org/>.• 6:• Lerner, Barron H. "Breast Cancer Activism." Nature Reviews (Mar. 2002):

n. pag. Web. 26 Oct. 2009. <http://www.nature.com/nrc/journal/v2/n3/fig_tab/

nrc744_I1.html>.

Works Cited continued• 7.• Okie, Susan. "Tamoxifen Lowers Risk of Breast Cance." Washington Post.

N.p., 1992. Web. 26 Oct. 2009.

<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/ health/daily/april98/bcancer.htm>.

• 8.• Slowik, Guy. "Breast Cancer." ehealth MD. Nucleus Medical Art, 2004.

Web. 30 Oct. 2009. <http://www.ehealthmd.com/library/breastcancer/ BRC_causes.html>

• 9.• "Chemotherapy." Breast Cancer.org. N.p., 2009. Web. 3 Nov. 2009.

<http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/chemotherapy/>.

Works Cited continued• 10:• "Breast Cancer Facts." Womens Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2009. <http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/breastcancer/a/breastcancfacts.htm>• 11:• "The Survival Rate of Women with Breast Cancer." Wellsphere. N.p., 2009.

Web. 30 Oct. 2009. <http://stanford.wellsphere.com/ complementary-alternative-

medicine-article/ the-survival-rate-for-women-with-breast-cancer/597465>.• 12:"Supporting efforts to raise awareness, improve education, and encourage research of inflammatory breast cancer." The Library of Congress. N.p., n.d.

Web. 2 Nov. 2009. <http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:3:./ temp/~bda2HK:@@@D&summ2=m&|/bss/111search.html|>.

Works Cited continued• 13:• Official California Legislative Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009.

• <http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/ waisgate?

WAISdocID=1795551376+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve>.• 14:• Official California Legislative Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009.

<http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/ waisgate?

WAISdocID=1795551376+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve>.• 15:• Breast Cancer Action. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2009.

<http://bcation.corg>.