Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in women, according to statistics, the incidence rate accounts for 7-10% of all kinds of malignant tumors in the whole body, second only to uterine cancer in women, its incidence is often related to genetics, as well as between 40 and 60 years old, the incidence rate is higher in women before and after menopause, only 1 to 2% of breast patients are men. It is a malignant tumor that usually occurs in the glandular epithelial tissue of the breast. It is one of the most common malignant tumors that seriously affects women’s physical and mental health and even endangers their lives, and breast cancer is rare in men.
In addition, genetic factors, dietary factors, external physical and chemical factors and certain benign breast diseases are related to the occurrence of breast cancer.
Several major factors that induce breast cancer
1. Age
The incidence rate of breast cancer among women increases with age. It is rare before the first menstruation and rare before the age of 20, but the incidence rate increases rapidly after the age of 20, and is higher from 45 to 50, but is relatively flat.
2, genetic factors
The risk of breast cancer is 2 to 3 times higher than normal for women who have a history of breast cancer in the first degree of direct relatives.
3.Other breast diseases.
4.Age of menarche
The risk of menarche is 2.2 times higher than that of women older than 17 years old if the age of menarche is earlier than 13 years old.
5.Age of menopause
The risk of menopause increases for those who are older than 55 years old compared to those who are younger than 45 years old.
6.Age of first pregnancy
The risk increases gradually with the postponement of the age of first birth, and the risk is higher for those who have their first birth after 35 years old than for those who have no history of childbirth.
7. Post-menopausal estrogen supplementation
Long-term use of estrogen during menopause may increase the risk of breast cancer.
8.Oral contraceptive pills.
9.Food
Especially fatty diet can increase the risk of breast cancer.
10.Drinking alcohol.
11.Weight gain
May be an important risk factor for breast cancer in postmenopausal women.
The main clinical manifestations of breast cancer
1. Painless lumps
Painless lumps in the breast are often the main symptoms that prompt patients to seek medical consultation.
2. Nipple overflow
It can be colorless, milky white, yellowish, brown, bloody, etc. It can be watery, blood-like, plasma-like or pus-like, and the amount can be large or small, and the interval is not consistent.
3, nipple and areola abnormalities
The nipple is flattened, retracted, sunken until it is completely retracted under the areola, and the nipple is invisible. Sometimes the whole breast is elevated and both nipples are not at the same level, and nipple erosion is also a typical symptom of breast cancer.
4.Proliferation and development
The average time of multiplication of breast cancer cells is 90 days, and the insidious stage of tumor is 12 years (6-20 years) on average before the lump can be detected clinically. Once the tumor occurs, its development can be through the following ways: local expansion, lymphatic dissemination, and bloodstream dissemination.
5.Breast cancer
If breast cancer is not treated, or if the administration of drugs is ineffective, it will gradually invade some of the following areas: lymph glands, bone, lung, liver, brain, pleural cavity, pericardial exudate, hypercalcemia, and spinal cord compression. It should be noted that certain special forms of breast cancer (such as inflammatory breast cancer and eczema-like carcinoma of the nipple) have a different pattern of development and clinical manifestations than the general breast cancer.
The modern requirement for early breast cancer should be microscopic cancer (diameter &le0.5cm) and To cancer with no clinically palpable lump as early stage, because such cancer rarely metastasizes and its 10-year survival rate can generally reach more than 90% after surgical treatment, and detecting a large number of such cancers will likely play a positive role in the survival rate. In order to detect more of such early cancers, the following points are proposed.
1.Establishing a new concept of early stage cancer
Early stage cancer is not rare among daily examined patients, and it should be more than the common middle and late stage cancer, because in the natural course of breast cancer growth, the preclinical stage accounts for about 2/3 of the whole course, but despite this, early stage cancer is rarely detected, indicating that most early stage cancers are missed by the examiners during the examination. The traditional concept of breast lumps as the primary sign to diagnose breast cancer is still used by most examiners, while the aforementioned early stage cancer may not always form obvious lumps.
2.Seriously inquire about breast cancer predisposing factors
There are many predisposing factors for breast cancer, the common ones are as follows
(1) Family history of breast cancer, especially whether the mother and sister of the subject have suffered from this disease.
(2) Early menarche (less than 12 years old) or late menopause (more than 50 years old).
(3) Late menarche at the age of 40 years or older.
(4) One breast has had cancer and the opposite breast is also a susceptible area, etc. Any person with these factors should be considered as susceptible to breast cancer and should be a priority candidate for examination.
3. Any abnormality in the breast should be identified as the cause
In conclusion, early detection and early treatment are undoubtedly the development direction of breast cancer prevention and treatment. At present, it is urgent to popularize the knowledge of early breast cancer detection and diagnosis, and widely carry out breast cancer screening and women’s self-examination of breast, so as to achieve the purpose of improving the survival rate and reducing the death rate as soon as possible.