All about Breast Cancer

The cells of our body reproduce themselves to let the growth and repair of body tissues doesn’t get interrupted. Usually, these cells reproduce themselves in a regular and orderly manner; however, due to certain abnormal changes in the genes in the body, these cells reproduce in an uncontrolled manner. This abnormal growth of cells may either be malignant or cancerous.


Breast cancer is the growth of malignant tumour in the cells of the breast. The most common area in the breast where breast cancer develops is the ducts and the least affected area is the lobules. If the tumour goes untreated, the cancerous cells invade the nearby tissues or cells and sometimes, even break off from the original sight of tumour and travel to other parts of the body through the lymph nodes or bloodstream. The spread of cancerous tissues from its original place to other parts of the body is called metastasis.


Treatments for Breast Cancer


Some of the treatments for breast cancer include:


Surgery: there are several treatments that help in combating breast cancer, though there is no assurance that either of them can absolutely prevent the relapse of cancer. The first treatment that is given to a breast cancer patient is surgery that helps in removing the malignant tumour from the breast. In some cases of breast cancer, only the malignant tumour is removed and in other cases, the entire breast is removed.


Chemotherapy: chemotherapy uses drugs to kill the cancerous cells. Chemotherapy drugs circulate through the body via the bloodstream and kill the cancerous cells. They target the dividing cells and damage them. Although, they affect healthy cells along with the bad ones, they are more effective than any other treatment.


Hormone Therapy: hormones naturally occur in the body and control the growth and activity of the normal cells. Hormone therapy is used to lower the oestrogen and progesterone levels and block the effect of the hormones that affect the cancerous cells of the


Biological Therapy: our body has naturally occurring antibodies that help keep the foreign cells such as viruses and bacteria out of our body. Biological therapy uses laboratory made antibodies to target the cancer cells and destroy them. One of the laboratory developed antibody is called Perception, which targets the cancerous cells and kills them.


Although, these treatments help in removing the cancerous cells, a successful treatment depends on the stage of cancer, age of the person and gender.