The second-most common type of cancer in the world, breast cancer is a disease which affects hundreds of thousand people each year. Its sufferers are overwhelmingly women, though the disease does rarely affect men (albeit much more rarely). While the diagnosis of breast cancer is always a serious one, if caught early enough the disease can generally be managed by surgical or other treatment.
The key to surviving breast cancer is much the same with other variations of the disease - early detection. Regular mammography (x-ray inspection of breast tissue) is the primary form of screening, and women are advised to have the procedure done every one to two years beginning in their forties. Self-examination is another important tool, with much literature available about how to detect abnormalities and what steps to take. If a tumor is detected, surgical biopsy can determine if it is benign or malignant, and if malignant the stage of development of the cancer.
The most common type of treatment is surgical. If a cancerous tumor is localized, it can be removed, or in more extreme cases the entire breast can be amputated. Cancers that have spread must generally be treated with chemotherapy or radiological treatments, which can be considerably taxing on the patient. If caught early enough, the prognosis for recovery is usually pretty good; death rates for breast cancer have been on the decline in recent decades.
The important thing to remember is that these days, a diagnosis of cancer is not necessarily a death sentence. Medical science is advancing by leaps and bounds, and almost daily new therapies and drugs are developed that can do things we've hardly dreamed of. Hopefully one day soon we'll be able to shelve breast cancer - as well as all the other varieties - next to polio and the other afflictions we've cured.
The key to surviving breast cancer is much the same with other variations of the disease - early detection. Regular mammography (x-ray inspection of breast tissue) is the primary form of screening, and women are advised to have the procedure done every one to two years beginning in their forties. Self-examination is another important tool, with much literature available about how to detect abnormalities and what steps to take. If a tumor is detected, surgical biopsy can determine if it is benign or malignant, and if malignant the stage of development of the cancer.
The most common type of treatment is surgical. If a cancerous tumor is localized, it can be removed, or in more extreme cases the entire breast can be amputated. Cancers that have spread must generally be treated with chemotherapy or radiological treatments, which can be considerably taxing on the patient. If caught early enough, the prognosis for recovery is usually pretty good; death rates for breast cancer have been on the decline in recent decades.
The important thing to remember is that these days, a diagnosis of cancer is not necessarily a death sentence. Medical science is advancing by leaps and bounds, and almost daily new therapies and drugs are developed that can do things we've hardly dreamed of. Hopefully one day soon we'll be able to shelve breast cancer - as well as all the other varieties - next to polio and the other afflictions we've cured.
