What is breast cancer?
Breast cancer is a chronic disease that affects one in eight women in the United States. It’s a condition associated with abnormal cells and tissues in the breasts that can spread to other areas of your body.
While breast cancer may be deadly if left untreated, early detection drastically increases your chance of making a full recovery.
What are the symptoms of breast cancer?
Any change in the appearance of your breasts can indicate breast cancer. Signs and symptoms of the disease include:
- A change in the size or shape of your breast
- A lump in your breast
- Nipple inversion
- Breast dimpling
- Pitting in the skin on your breast
- Redness in breast tissue
- Crusting, peeling, flaking, or scaling in the breast areola
- Nipple discharge
Some signs of breast cancer are subtle, which is why routine breast cancer screening is crucial to prevent disease progression and serious complications.
What are the risk factors for breast cancer?
Some women have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Risk factors include:
- Older age
- Family or personal history of breast cancer
- Going through menopause after age 55
- Beginning your period before age 12
- Obesity
- Hormone replacement therapy
- Having dense breast tissue
- Drinking alcohol
- Not having children or having your first child after age 30
- Having the BRCA1 or BRCA 2 gene
Various diagnostic tests detect breast cancer early, so you can get the treatment required for a full recovery.
How is breast cancer diagnosed?
The doctors at Tri-State Specialists use breast exams, blood tests, mammography (low radiation X-ray imaging), breast ultrasound, MRIs, and other advanced imaging procedures to detect breast cancer in early stages.
They may also take a tissue biopsy to make a final diagnosis. Your doctor might recommend a mammogram to screen for breast cancer beginning at age 40.
What is the treatment for breast cancer?
Your breast cancer treatment plan depends on how severe the cancer is and whether or not it’s spread to other areas of your body.
Your personalized treatment from Tri-State Specialists in-conjunction with other experts in the field of breast cancer might include one or more of the following.
- Lumpectomy, or removing a cancerous breast cancer lump
- Mastectomy, or removing your entire breast
- Chemotherapy
- Radiation therapy
- Hormone therapy
- Targeted breast cancer therapy
Targeted therapy drug treatments attack cancer cells without harming surrounding healthy cells. Your doctor recommends the most conservative treatment first but understands the importance of minimally invasive surgery when necessary.
If you’re at risk of developing breast cancer, schedule a breast cancer screening at Tri-State Specialists by phone or online today.
