Breast Cancer

Salam.. i have mentioned before that i want my blog to bring benefits and information as well as inducing minds to think of new ideas and opinions. today, i'm going to talk about what i read..

BREAST CANCER.. it is the number one cancer that takes the lives of many women.. young and old.. so let's gain some knowledge about this cancer...

what are the risk factors for breast cancer??
1.Genetic: where a mutation of BRCA-1 at chromosome 17 and BRCA-2 at chromosome 13 occurs.. i'm sure you've heard that this cancer has strong genetic susceptibility.. what does that mean?? to put it in a simple language, if your mum, aunties, grandma have breast cancer, you have high risk of developing one also... so do breast examination routinely.. well, dont be afraid.. science is just humans' knowledge... Allah knows better..
2.Prolong exposure to OESTROGEN.. what in the world is oestrogen?? heeee.. it's the female's hormone that plays role in menstruation and regulation of the sexual characteristic la.. what do i mean by prolong exposure??
a. people who experience early menarche.. means those who experience their first menstruation early compared to others
b.late menapause
c. nulliparous.. means a woman who doesnt deliver a baby or bear a baby in her womb more than 20 weeks...
d. delayed child bearing
e. no breast feeding (my elective!!!)
f. estrogen replacement therapy.. haaa.. ni pekebnda?? why people nak replace their hormons?? usually orang yg buat ni are those who are menopause already.. estrogen can prevent heart disease, osteoporosis.. but too much is too fatal..
g. oral contraception or birth control pills
h. obesity

3. others
a. smoking
b. alcohol consumption

i'm tapping my finger whether or not i should share about the progress of the disease.. how the disease develops..hurm.. share je lah.. probly it will help some of you to understand the disease better..

pathogenesis (development of disease)

the normal breast epithelium (lining of the breast cells) will be disrupted by mutation of c-erB2 gene and other environmental factor. this will induce the formation of cancer cells.. oestrogen along with environmental factors will cause the secretion of Growth Factor.. which enhance the groth of the cancer cells la.. this will lead to autocrine tumor development.. senang cte hormone oestrogen tu yg berlebihan akan buat tumor to develop further.. and leading to BREAST CANCER..

well breast cancer has the invasive and non invasive type.. ape maksud invasive?? it means that the growth of the tumor cells are very rapid.. and the prognosis (outcome)is not really good. i wont list the types of invasive and non invasive breast cancer here..

what are the signs and symptoms of breast cancer????
1. solitary (single), painless (it's always painless when it comes to cancer..memang tak sakit), moveable breast lump..
2.retracted nipple
3. peau d'orange (lymphadenoma arund hair follicle) means macam ade bengkak dengan tmpat tumbuh rambut.. timbul kecik2..
4. inflammation (ade merah-merah)
5. nipple discharge (not milk la obviously)
6. fix to pectoris muscle or skin..(macam melekat to something.)
7. axillary lymphadenopathy.. bengkak2 kat bahagian ketiak... ni maksudnye cancer dah merebak..

basically dia ade 4 stages.. this goes according to the size of the lump
stage in situ: under microscope, the basement membrane (lining of the breast cell) is not invaded
stage 1: lump is less than 2 cm with no regional lymph node enlargement
stage 2: lump is 2-5 cm
stage 3a: lump is more than 5 cm
stage 3b: lump is more than 5 cm with infraclavicular or supraclavicular node metastases.. means ade ketulan lymph node yg dapat rase kat bahagias atas pada dada dekat area base of the neck..
stage 4: any metastis(spread of cancer) at distant location. maksud nye cancer dah merebak ke bahagian yang lain kat tubuh...

let's not talk about prognosis or the survival rate.. i hate this part.. but have faith.. ade banya treatment yg proven to cure breast cancer patients including surgery.. remove the breasts.. chemotherapy.. and radiotherapy... :) insya Allah.. sebab Allah dah janji setiap penyakit ade penawarnya.. cuma since humans have limited capability to find knowledge.. the search for the utimate cure takes a longer time...

i hope this will give you the background knowledge about breast cancer.. all of you do know men can get this cancer too right?? life without cancer is my dream too.. like what people do to smallpoz.. i want to eradicate cancer too.. tak kesah cancer ape pun.. as someone who come from a family with history of cancer.. i do believe in this dream. in fact i live on this dream. i became a medical student because of this dream... insya Allah.. we all be alright... i try my best to use the language that everybody can understand.. i try to avoid medical jargons... if you want to share or ask something, ask away.. i'll try my best to explain to you... :)