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DeAndrea Dawson English III Graduation Project Research Paper Monday Novem er !"# !$1% &reast 'ancer No one (nows how reast cancer starts ecause doctors haven)t een a le to *ind the e+act cause *or reast cancer and what can cause it to *orm, -he most in*ormation that they have *ound is that it is always caused y damage to a cell)s DNA, -hey are still trying to *ind out what cause the cells to e damaged .national reastcancer,org/, 'ancer starts when cells reproduce too 0uic(ly, &reast 'ancer is the second leading cause o* death among women *ollowing lung cancer, It is said that the chance that reast cancer will e responsi le *or a woman)s death is a out 1 in %1 .cancer,org/, &reast 'ancer a**ects oth the patient and *amily emotionally, &reast cancer is a cancer that starts in the tissue o* the reast, It is also (nown as a malignant tumor that *eeds o** o* the hormone estrogen .cancer,org/, -here are a *ew things that can cause reast cancer to develop, -he most common way is when malignant tumors develop in the reast, A*ter that happens the tumors can rea( apart and spread, -hey may get to other parts o* the ody and damage other tissue and organs, It is said that 21 in 3 women will e diagnosed with reast cancer in their li*etime4 .national reastcancer,org/, In the year o* !$1%# it was estimated that over !!$#$$$ women would e diagnosed with reast cancer# ut out o* that it would claim 5$#$$$ lives .national reastcancer,org/, As *or men it is more rare, 2&reast cancer occurs nearly 1$$ times more o*ten in women than men4 .national reastcancer,org/, 36tudies show that in !$1% !#1"$ men will e diagnosed and 51$ o* them will die .national reastcancer,org/, 2&reast cancer is one o* the most *re0uently diagnosed cancers among women in the 7,6 with an estimated more than 18"#$$$ new cases per year4 .Dawson/, Ever since 199$# the death rates have

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een decreasing .national reastcancer,org/, :ne o* the *irst signs o* reast cancer a lump in the reast or underarm, -hese lumps are usually painless, 2-hey are so*t# smooth# round and move a out easily# are more li(ely to e loo(ed over# compared to hard lumps that are strictly attracted to the reast tissue4 .Dawson/, -hey are *irst seen on a mammogram e*ore you can see or *eel them .we md,com/, In *act 23$;9$< o* reast cancer in women without symptoms in the 7,6, will e detected y mammography4 .(omen(ansascity,org/, Most common signs o* reast cancer are swelling in the armpit# pain or tenderness o* the reast# change in the nipple .itching# urning# rash/# an unusual discharge *rom the nipple# or a mar le li(e area under the s(in .we md,com/, 2! out o* % women are diagnosed a*ter the age ""4 .national reastcancer,org/, &eing that there are di**erent types o* this cancer# there may e many di**erent conse0uences in the end, -he two major types o* reast cancer are ducal carcinoma in situ# (nown as D'I6# and the other is lo ular carcinoma in situ# also (nown as ='I6, Ducal carcinoma in situ is when the cancer is in the lining within the mil( ducts# and they have not yet attac(ed any near y tissue, As *or =o ular carcinoma in situ this is represented just as a ma(er *or an increased ris( o* invasive cancer in one or oth o* the reasts .nc i,nlm,nih,gov/, -hese> however# are the two major types# ut there are also di**erent types which depend on whether it originates in the ducts or lo ules, ?or e+ample# in*iltrating ductal carcinoma .ID'/ is where lesions appear as stellate# star li(e# or rounded areas on the mammograms, -hen there is also medullary carcinoma which mostly occurs in women in their late 5$s and "$s# which resem le the medulla o* the rain, .nation reastcancer,org/ 2&y doing regular sel*;e+ams o* your reast# you can ecome *amiliar with the normal monthly changes that your reasts undergo4 .we md,com/, @-he rate o* survivors has een increasing since 1993, -here is said to e a out !,9 million &reast cancer survivors alive in the 7,6, today witch

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happens to e the largest group o* all cancer survivors .www,(omen(ansascity,org/, -here are " stages that a cell goes through to ecome cancerous, 6tage $ is when the cell appears as a typical cell and can e detected early# which can e treated y lumpectomy plus radiation or even a mastectomy, 6tage I and II# where the cancer ecomes more noticea le and is starting to spread, 6tage III is the last possi le stage where it has a chance to e cured, 6tage IA is where all treatments at any measure are ta(en# ut stage IA cannot e cured, In stage IA the goal is to improve symptoms and help the patient live longer, .cancer,gov/, 28$< o* women who develop reast cancer did not have any (nown ris( *actors e*ore diagnosis4 .Dawson/, -he ris( *actor *or reast cancer depends on many o* things# even some things that we can)t change# ut just ecause you have a ris( *actor or many o* them does not mean you will get the disease, ?or instants such as a person)s gender# age# genetic ris( *actors# one)s *amily history# race or ethnicity# menstrual periods# and many more, -he older you ecome the more you increase your chances o* having reast cancer .cancer,org/, Bhen pu erty hits# ovaries egin ma(ing *emale hormones# causing reast ducts to produce .health,nytimes,com/, In oys# hormones are made y the testicles which (eep reast tissue *rom growing, &ut this doesn)t mean they cannot cause reast cancer, In men# this particular cancer is less common ecause their reast duct cells are less developed than they are in women, &reast cancer ris( also increases due to heredity# which is y mutations in your genes inherited *rom your parents, Depending on one)s *amily history with having a lood relative that had this disease it increases the ris( among women, 2Presence o* one or more ris( *actors does not necessarily mean that the patient will actually develop a reast tumor4 .Dawson/, A *irst degree relative# such as a mother#

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sister# or daughter# dou les one)s ris(, &y eing a white woman their chances are slightly higher than A*rican;American women, Bhen it comes to surviving# A*rican;Americans are more li(ely to die *rom reast cancer# the reason eing that A*rican;American women seem to have more aggressive tumors, Asian# Cispanic# and Native;American women have a lower ris( *rom it all .cancer,org/, 2A reduction has most dramatically seen in younger white and A*rican American women .Dawson/4, A woman)s menstrual cycle also ma(es a di**erence# y having more cycles ecause one starts early# e*ore the age o* 1!# and or went through menopause at a later age# a*ter age o* ""# have slightly a higher ris(, Ris( *actors can also depend on one)s li*e;style such as having children# an oral contraceptive# reast;*eeding# alcohol# physical activity# chemical in environment# smo(ing# and etc, Caving children a*ter the age o* %$ increases a woman)s ris(, &eing physically active decreases the ris( whereas eing o ese increases it, :ne o* the main things that women *orget is that 2i* you have had a reast tumor in one reast you have an increased rate o* having cancer in the other reast4 .Dawson/, Bhen dealing with reast cancer many women receive a com ination o* treatments .cancer,gov/, -he treatment depends on the stage o* the cancer# the type o* cancer# and where the cancer has spread, -here are many di**erent ways that one can (ill the cancer, 'ertain things that can determine the treatment is siDe and location o* tumor# results o* la test# stage o* cancer# age# general health# menopause status and the patientEs personal *eelings a out the treatment, :ne o* the many treatments is chemotherapy# eing that this is the most common way, Another is radiation therapy which destroys cancerous tissues within the ody, -argeted therapy# also (nown# as iological therapy# is one o* the new types o* cancer treatments, -his particular treatment uses special anticancer drugs that target certain changes in a cell that can lead to cancer, Another alternative to treatment

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could e through surgery, -here are two main types) lumpectomy# which removes the reast lump# and mastectomy# which removes all or part o* the reast# and may e even surrounding tissues or structures .we md,com/, Bays to prevent reast cancer is not certain ut most women over the age o* %" starts to ta(e the drug tamo+i*en, 6ometimes women with very high ris( *or developing reast cancer have their reasts removed e*ore the cancer is diagnosed, -hey have this done i* they have already had one reast removed due to cancer# have a strong *amily history o* reast cancer# andFor have genes or genetic mutations that increase their ris(, Eating a healthy diet and ma(ing li*e;style changes may reduce their overall ris(, Bhen it comes to diets# choose one with a decent portion siDe promotes healthy weight# whole grains and eat plenty o* *ruit and vegeta les, -ry to limit red meats and alcohol consumption ecause they increase the ris(, -his cancer can a**ect the *amily mem ers and *riends o* the reast cancer patient negatively due to the outs o* stress# con*usion# and depression, -here are many ways a loved one having reast cancer can a**ect one)s *amily, I* the patient is a primary caregiver this adds new and challenging roles, -his is ecause i* the primary caregiver is going under any type o* treatment# they are not a le to per*orm their normal duties that the *amily e+pects> this can e anything *rom coo(ing to cleaning, -his may also put stress on other *amily mem ers to help ta(e care o* the patient and their *amily# such as their children, -he National Institute o* Cealth says that many caregivers *eel a andoned and upset that their schedules have een disrupted, -o relieve some stress as(ing *or help and adjusting schedules to suit everyone involved helps .cancer,org/, &reast cancer has een (nown to ta(e a strong emotional e**ect on the patient# their *amily and *riends, -he patient may go through an+iety# *ear# depression and other emotions,

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All o* these emotions are normal and happen to most people, In individuals that have cancer# these moods may e caused y a variety o* things, -hey start to *eel as i* they will no longer e a le to provide *or their *amilies the way they *eel they should, 6ome start to see their sel* as a urden, Most women will start to *eel less as a woman and ecome very sel*;conscious o* their image, I* they have had cancer *or a while they may start to thin( they will die causing them to ecome depressed and want to separate their sel* *rom others, -heir *amily mem ers may start to *eel some o* these emotions too, -hey *ear that they may lose their loved ones, -hey start to get mad and *rustrated ecause they *eel as i* they are not doing enough *or their loved ones, .we md,com/, I* the cancer patient has (ids and *amily that live with them in the house# they may get stressed out ecause everyone has to ta(e on more things at home to help out, 'on*usion is another a**ect that a *amily may go through when a loved one is dealing with reast cancer, 6ome may not realiDe it# ut children are one o* the main ones who are a**ected the most, 'hildren can ecome worried when they see their caregiver sic( and una le to tend to their needs, -he children also notice little things li(e the *ears and the an+ieties presented y their caregiver, -he *amily may e+perience some depression states# where as they start to *eel overwhelmed with sadness, -he Nation Institutes o* Cealth .NIC/ says that a *amily that loses a loved one due to cancer is most li(ely to e+perience depression, I* depression gets too ad# one should see( counseling or some type o* medication to treat the symptoms, Many even have thoughts o* suicide .nlm,nih,gov/ -he di**erent types o* treatment will cause di**erent physical changes where they can then ma(e the emotion changes harder or easier to deal with, 6ome people will go through the stage where they lose their hair and ecome very wea(, -his will ma(e them have to depend on their *amily and *riends even more which may cause more stress on the *amily, -hey may also start to e *atigued# nausea and have a lot o* weight loss or weight

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gain, 6ome may not want to go out into pu lic due to these changes .we md,com/, -hey may also have changes in their *ingernails# and s(in discoloration, I* they had a surgery they will have permanent damage such as scars *rom surgery .cancer,org/, &reast cancer can a**ect the *amily mem ers and *riends o* the patient negatively due to the outs o* stress# depression and other emotions that cancer may cause, Everyone handles these pro lems di**erently, I* one ever *eels li(e the stress is starting to e a it much# then they should tal( to someone who can help them and *ind a etter way to handle their pro lems, Gou should never *eel that you are alone in a situation li(e that> there are people who can help you through it,

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Bor(s 'ited HA out &reast 'ancer,H Www.komenkansascity.org, N,p,# n,d, Be , !" Nov, !$1%,
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