Breast Cancer 13

There are many types of killers in this world, alcohol, drugs, drunk drivers, cigarettes, but the one that has been affecting women for years, Breast Cancer. Luckily for women diagnosed with this cancer it is not the end. Many treatments are now available. If you are one of the many women sitting at home wondering if you have breast cancer, you can start by doing regular home self check-ups. It is recommended by doctors that you do this monthly. How you begin is you undress from the waist up and turn from side to side in a bathroom of large mirror. You will be looking for a change in the contour (ridges or pitting in the skin, change in shape or size, inverted nipple) of the breast. Then you will raise your arms over your head and feel for lumps on either side of each breast, on top and underneath. You want to then search the nipple for a bloody or pearly discharge. When you feel or see something is when you contact a doctor, a breast cancer specialist in particular of course. Here he or she will either do a mammography or a type of biopsy. There are many types of biopsies such as an incisional biopsy which is where the doctor cut out a sample of a lump or suspicious area, or a needle biopsy which is where the doctor removes the tissue with a needle from a suspicious on the mammography but couldn’t be felt. The type of surgery that is to take place once the cancer is detected will be determined on the size of the tumor itself. If the cancer has not yet spread to a tumor you can get radiation therapy which is used to kill and shrink cancer cells. External radiation therapy is radiation directed at the breast from a source outside the body. Internal radiation therapy is when the radioactive materials placed into the breast in or near the cancer cells. Or you can go with chemotherapy which is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells. It may be given in many forms including pill, injection, and via a catheter. The drugs will then enter the bloodstream and travel...