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Learn More About the Advanced Breast Cancer Treatments
October 15, 2021
A significant number of people are aware that cancer is a leading cause of death. As a matter of fact, the palliative care staff in Los Angeles claim that cancer is responsible for 10 million deaths around the globe per year. However, not many people know that cancer can hide itself, sending messages to the body that it is healthy while utilizing the body’s systems to allow itself to grow unnoticed.
Cancer cells are very intelligent, but fortunately, science is getting smarter. Recently, the death rate for women with breast cancer has decreased by 1% each year due to the latest advances in breast cancer treatment.
How To Detect Breast Cancer
Like other types of cancer cells, breast cancer impersonates as healthy cells, sometimes even going as far as switching off the body’s natural immune response so that tumors can grow undetected. At the same time, the immune system fails to signal that something is going off target, breast cancer can disperse to other organs, most especially to the lymph nodes.
For this reason, hospice staff in Los Angeles highly recommends early detection and believes regular mammograms save lives. One current advancement in breast cancer treatment is breast tomosynthesis or 3-D mammography. Also, doctors are examining new imaging techniques, such as introducing particles or radioactive drugs that stick themselves to breast cancer cells, making them more apparent and uncomplicated to treat.
According to the hospice staff in Pasadena, an additional advancement in breast cancer treatment and imaging is the utilization of artificial intelligence software. Research has proven that false-positive results are widespread and, above all, false negatives may also happen because of human error. Although artificial intelligence is not yet progressive enough to replace human eyes, the use of the software and the review of a radiologist ends in more precise results.
Eliminating Cancer Cells
When advances in breast cancer treatments are ever mentioned, we immediately think about chemotherapy. Chemotherapy can be a very powerful way to destroy cancer cells. However, it can eliminate healthy cells as well. That is why the professionals providing palliative care in Los Angeles recommend targeted therapy, a type of precision medicine that functions to stop or slow the growth of cancer cells.
There are eighteen target therapy drugs approved to treat breast cancer by pinpointing and striking cancer cells. Targeted therapy is increasingly becoming more practical in preventing the growth of breast cancer cells and the cancer-causing genes that produce them. Specifically, Avastin blocks the development of new blood vessels that cancer cells rely on to grow and function. Additionally, Herceptin stops cancer cells from getting chemical signals that instruct the cells to grow.
Also, scientists are researching immunotherapy as an up-and-coming breast cancer treatment. The immune system is armed to kill viruses, bacteria, and infected cells. However, the issue with cancer is that abnormal cells are usually not detected by the immune system, or they alter and mutate to get away from the immune system. The whole point of immunotherapy is to let the immune system know about the cancer cells, which allows the system to have an opportunity to find and kill them. Immunotherapy has successfully treated several types of cancers and is gaining momentum for the battle against breast cancer.
Men With A Woman’s Disease
Both men and women have breast tissue. However, the difference is that with men, a majority of breast tissue is found behind the nipple. Typically, women have a lot more breast tissue than men, and because of this, an increased risk of breast cancer. Nevertheless, cancers can happen in male breast tissue too.
Fortunately, breast cancer is sporadic in men. Still, as men age, there is a gradual increase in men being diagnosed with breast cancer. That’s why it’s essential to give information and support to affected men and their families.
What Are The Symptoms Of Breast Cancer In Men?
Symptoms of breast cancer in men are the same as those for women and include:
- a breast lump
- thickening of the breast tissue
- dimpling of the skin of the breast
- alterations in the shape of the breast or nipple
- a discharge from the nipple
- a painful area
- swollen lymph nodes in the armpit area
What Causes Breast Cancer In Men?
Some determinants that can step up the risk of breast cancer in men include:
- a family history of breast cancer in first-degree relatives (male or female) who have had BRCA2 breast cancer; or various relatives who have had colon, prostate, or ovarian
- increasing age
- some testicular disorders
- high levels of estrogen
- Klinefelter’s syndrome – A rare condition where men have two X chromosomes and one Y chromosome (XXY instead of XY).
Lifestyle factors that to some degree increase the possibility of breast cancer in men and women include:
- being overweight
- drinking alcohol
- lack of physical activity.
If you want more information about breast cancer treatment advances for women and men, please do not hesitate to contact Faith & Hope Hospice and Palliative Care at (877) 797-1977.
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