What is breast cancer?
Breast cancer or breast cancer is a disease that originates when breast cells begin to grow uncontrollably. Breast cancer almost only occurs in women, but men can also develop it.
The type of breast cancer can be defined depending on where in the breast it is found. To identify the area where the cancer is for sure, an x-ray is done or it can be felt as a mass or lump.
Although many types of breast cancer can cause breast lumps, they do not occur in everyone, so what to look for and when to tell your doctor. Many breast cancers can also be found on screening mammograms, which can show cancer at an earlier stage, usually before lumps are felt and/or before symptoms appear.
It is important to know how the breasts are made up, since breast cancer can start in different areas. The breasts are made up of three main parts:
Lobules: These are the glands that produce milk.
Ducts: These are the tubes that carry milk to the nipple .
Connective tissue: Surrounds and supports the parts of the breast.
The most common types of breast cancer are:
Invasive ductal carcinoma: Cancer cells start in the duct, then move out of the duct and multiply in other breast tissues. These aggressive cancer cells can also spread or metastasize to other parts of the body.
Invasive lobular carcinoma: Cancer cells start in the lobules and then spread from the lobules to nearby breast tissue. These aggressive cancer cells can also spread to other parts of the body.
There are other less common types of breast cancer, such as Paget’s disease, medullary breast cancer, mucinous breast cancer, inflammatory breast cancer, among others.
Breast cancer can spread when cancer cells reach the blood or lymph system and reach other parts of the body. This process is called metastasis .
Breast cancer in Mexico.
According to statistical information from the National Center for Gender Equity and Reproductive Health in Mexico, the states in which mortality from breast cancer predominates are:
The average age of presentation of breast cancer cases is 54.9 years, the highest incidence in the number of cases is registered in the group of 50 to 59 years with 45% of all cases.
Sonora (28.6)
Nuevo Leon (26)
Coahuila (25.7)
Chihuahua (24.8)
Mexico (24.7)
Sinaloa (22.2)- Worldwide breast cancer
Breast cancer is the most common neoplasm in the world population and occurs frequently in women with an estimated 1,671,149 new cases per year and a prevalence of 6,232,108, which represents 36.3%.
In developed countries there is a higher incidence (with the exception of Japan).
It is the cause with the highest mortality in women with 521,907 annual deaths, which represents 14.7%. The mortality trend is upward due to a higher incidence of the disease due to the increase in life expectancy at birth, lifestyle changes and the relationship between cancer and obesity. - Breast cancer in Latin America.
Breast cancer is the first most common neoplasm in women in Latin America, with an incidence of 152,059 cases per year. The incidence in the region is 27.0 cases per 100,000 women, reaching values above 50 in countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Guyana.
Mortality in the region is 43,208 deaths with a rate of 47.2 per 100,000 women. Representing 14% of the annual deaths from this cause, three countries have higher mortality and they are: Argentina with (19.02), Uruguay (22.69) and Guyana (20.05).
Treatments
Breast cancer is treated in several ways. This depends on the type of breast cancer and the degree of spread.
People with breast cancer often receive more than one type of treatment.
Surgery : An operation in which doctors cut out the cancerous tissue.
Chemotherapy : Special drugs are used to shrink or kill cancer cells. These drugs can be pills you take or drugs injected into your veins, or sometimes both.
Hormone therapy: Stops cancer cells from getting the hormones they need to grow.
Biological therapy: Works with your body’s immune system to help it fight cancer cells or control side effects caused by other cancer treatments. Side effects are the way your body reacts to medicines or other treatments.
Radiation therapy : High-energy rays (similar to X-rays) are used to kill cancer cells.