Why does #BreastCancer spread?

Image : Cancer Cell

Article by Alex White

Breast cancer can spread to any part of your body through the blood and lymphatic system.  The metastasis of breast cancer cells is what makes the disease very dangerous.  Metastasis means the cancer cells have traveled from the place of origin, i.e. the breast, to other parts of the body.

When the cancer cells travel from the breast to the underarm lymph nodes, it is still considered to be early stages of breast cancer and it has a high potential to be completely cured.  With surgery and treatment there is a very high chance that all the disease can be completely eradicated from the body.

When the cancer cells travel beyond the lymph nodes to other distant parts of the body, the patient is said to have distant metastasis.  The bones, lungs and liver are the most commonly affected places in the body that breast cancer cells spread to.  Though treatment is available for breast cancer and for metastatic breast cancer, once the cancer has traveled beyond the breast and underarm lymph nodules, it can no longer be totally cured.

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#BreastCancer – In denial after finding a lump in the breast

Article by Kacy Carr

Why is it that when the topic of breast cancer crops up in conversation some women tend to shy away in belief that they personally are exempt from contacting the disease? Listen up ladies breast cancer is serious and can affect any one of us at any time. It is in every woman’s best interest to do regular self breast examinations. Many cancers are curable and the odds get better for survival if the cancer is caught in the early stage.

Ignorance is a deadly concoction for those in denial after finding a lump in their breast or any other type of health abnormality. If you choose to ignore the warning signs on health matters as such then you may be living under threat of a death sentence. Early detection of breast cancer with the aid of modern medicine will definitely give a woman hope in curing the breast cancer if diagnosis was sanctioned.

Breast awareness should be practiced by every female regardless of age. What is meant by awareness is where you are encouraged to get intimate with your self i.e. looking for abnormalities in the breast. Women need to know what is normal and what is abnormal.

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Breast Reconstruction Decision

Article by Annabel Cruz

With today’s advanced surgical procedures, most women who undergo surgery for breast cancer are candidates for breast reconstruction. There are various types of reconstruction, and they are available to women who have had a mastectomy, partial mastectomy, or lumpectomy.

The decision of whether to have breast reconstruction arises at a very emotional time usually at the same time a woman learns she has breast cancer and needs surgery. It is a time when many questions come up about reconstruction, the most common of which are answered here briefly:

Is age a factor? As long as a woman is in good general health and chooses a procedure that is compatible with her physical condition, age is usually not a factor. Breast reconstruction is frequently done for women in their 70s.

Who should not have breast reconstruction? Women who are in poor general health, who have psychological problems that would be exacerbated by the surgery, or who have severe diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, a recent stroke nine-art attack, or severe lung disease usually should not have breast reconstruction.

Do I have to make a decision about having reconstruction before I have the mastectomy? No, but the best time to think about breast reconstruction and to consult with a reconstruction surgeon is before you have your mastectomy. Depending on the type of mastectomy you have, you may be able to undergo immediate reconstruction while you’re still on the operating table. There are advantages and disadvantages to having immediate reconstruction (see below). Not all mastectomies lend themselves to this approach, however, which means it is important for you to understand all your options prior to mastectomy. Then if you choose to delay reconstruction, you at least were given the opportunity to make an informed decision.

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Marie’s #BreastCancer story – a Call to Action

In the photo: The young Doctor Anthony P. Cannella with his mother, Marie

            The year was 1986, and my family was going through a very difficult and stressful time.  During this period, my mother, who was the rock of our family, withheld the fact that she was losing weight and had a growth in her right breast.  It was not until my father found out and forced her to go to the doctor.  She ended up being diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer with metastasis to adjacent lymph nodes.

My family was devastated; she was only thirty-eight years young.  The physicians were very discouraged with her diagnosis, and gave her only six months to live; interestingly she had no family history of breast cancer.  However she was a strong woman and endured a right radical mastectomy, nitrogen mustard chemotherapy and whole body radiation therapy.  To watch such a dynamic and lively individual be brutalized by this course of therapy was beyond description with the usual vernacular.  However, she fought on, and finally she went into remission one year later.

            During the next four years the oncologists would find another set of lymph nodes positive and she would have to go through the process again.  It was during this time that she also developed Celiac disease; a gastrointestinal disease where eating wheat protein or gluten causes a horrible mal-absorption process and she lost twenty kilograms.  Finally, right before my fourteenth birthday she was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer with metastasis to her lungs, liver and bones.  After a two-week battle in the ICU, my mother succumbed to this ferocious illness. The bedrock of my family was gone, and she died at only forty-three years old.

            In the years that followed, my father and I struggled through life without my mother.  Things were terribly difficult and I had to grow up fast; learning how to become self-reliant by cooking, cleaning on my own and trying to take care of my father at the same time.  Fortunately, I have a huge extended family, which helped my father and myself survive during this time.  Later, when choosing a career, I remembered how my mother suffered, and how much we as a family suffered with her illness.  This was the overwhelming reason that I choose medicine as a career; not to stop the pain of my mother’s death, but to try and make life more tolerable for those are inflicted with such an illness.

            Even to this day, the loss of my mother is horribly painful for me.  I wonder what she would think about my life and the type of man, which I have become, and her impression with the decisions I have made.  I would hope to think that she would be satisfied with all of those things and would want me to be an even greater advocate for a cure of what took her life.  This would have to include encouraging my patients and even through social media of the importance of self-breast exams.

Knowing your own body well enough to know when something is wrong is the key to the early identification of this disease.  Even more important is being aware of a history of breast cancer in one’s family and doing something about it early in life.  I implore all women over thirty to do self-breast exams monthly, and have a talk with their physician if they do not know how.  I would hope that by telling you my experience, might possibly save your life and even more so your legacy.

Article by Anthony P. Cannella, M.D., M.Sc. (@apc_md)