All you need to know about breast cancer, The following article talks about a brochure about the medical development in breast cancer treatment since its discovery before 3000 BC, about the symptoms of breast cancer, in addition to knowing the time period required to recover from the various breast cancer treatments and an explanation of the symptoms of the fourth stage of breast cancer and how to treat them.
Symptoms of irritable and digestive bowel
All you need to know about breast cancer
Symptoms of breast cancer
The cause of breast cancer is not known exactly, but there are many factors that increase the risk of developing it, such as aging and obesity, and breast cancer is associated with several symptoms that vary in severity from one patient to another, including the following:
- Change in all or one of the breasts size or shape.
- Discharge from the nipples, which may be bloody.
- A lump or lump under one of the armpits.
- Peeling of the skin of the breasts.
- A rash around the nipple.
- The nipple has changed appearance, for example it may be sunken inside the breast.
- Feeling of unusual breast pain.
A brochure on medical development in breast cancer treatment
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women around the world, and its discovery and treatment development has passed over several periods of time, namely:
- Edwin Smith describes cases of breast cancer being discovered since 3000-2500 BC.
- In ancient Greece, people made breast offerings to the god of medicine.
- Hippocrates described the stages of breast cancer in the early fourth century BC.
- In the first century AD, doctors began making incisions to destroy tumors.
- At the beginning of the Middle Ages, Christians believed that surgery was a barbaric act, and they believed that faith was the way to heal.
- Muslim physicians studied the Greek medical texts. Learn more about breast cancer.
- During the Renaissance, surgery returned, when doctors began to explore the body, and doctor John Hunter determined that lymph was the cause of breast cancer, and it is the fluid that transports white blood cells to all of the body.
- Operations were performed to remove the tumor during the Renaissance, but without anesthesia, and this means that the doctor must be quick and accurate.
The modern approach to breast cancer treatment
The modern approach to breast cancer research and treatment began to appear in the nineteenth century, and here are the main milestones of its development:
- 1882: William Halsted was the first to perform a radical mastectomy, and this approach remained in the early twentieth century.
- 1895: The first x-ray of cancer was taken, with a low dose.
- 1898: Pierre and Marie Curie discovered radium and polonium (radioactive elements). Soon after, radium was used to treat cancer.
- 1932: Breast surgery was advanced, no longer a disfigurement.
- 1937: Radiation therapy was used in addition to surgery, but without removing the breast, by placing radium needles in the breast near the lymph nodes.
- 1978: Tamoxifen, the first drug to inhibit the production of the estrogen hormone whose elevation caused breast cancer, appeared.
- 1984: Doctors identified new types of benign breast cancers that do not respond to treatment.
- 1985: Researchers discover that early-stage breast cancer patients treated with lumpectomy and radiation have similar cure rates as women treated with mastectomy.
- 1986: Scientists cloned the HER2 gene.
- 1995: Scientists cloned the tumor suppressor genes BRCA1 and BRCA2, whose mutations increase the risk of breast cancer.
- 1996: Anastrozole appears, which suppresses the production of the hormone estrogen in the body.
- 1998: Tamoxifen was shown to reduce the risk of breast cancer in susceptible women by 50%, and trastuzumab was shown to target cancer cells.
- 2006: Raloxifene appeared; To prevent breast cancer, in women who are at risk of developing it after menopause.
- 21st Century: Breast Cancer Treatment Becomes More Personalized; Because doctors know more about it, and the available treatments include drug therapy, radiation and chemotherapy.
How long does breast cancer treatment take?
Breast cancer treatment begins after its diagnosis, and each treatment takes its own period, and the following is an explanation:
- Oral medications: The duration of treatment with medication ranges from 5 to 10 years, and is considered an initial treatment, and you need to follow the doctor’s instructions seriously, and fully adhere to the treatment plan.
- Surgery: The recovery from surgery depends on its type, for example if it is surgery to remove the tumor, it takes two weeks as a maximum for recovery, and mastectomy, it takes three weeks at most.
- Some women may need to have the lump resected. To make sure the breast is completely safe from cancer.
- Breast reconstruction: Breast reconstruction is sometimes in stages and requires two or three operations.
- Chemotherapy: Each type of chemotherapy takes place over a period of two weeks, and is repeated four times, then the next treatment comes, and the treatment takes between 4 to 6 months, and the recovery period varies from one patient to another.
- Radiation therapy: The recovery period depends on the type of radiation, and recovery can begin after three weeks.
Symptoms of stage 4 breast cancer
The fourth stage of breast cancer means that the cancer has spread to other organs of the body, such as the lungs, bones, liver, lymph glands, brain or skin, and the symptoms associated with this stage include:
- Feeling of lumps in the breast.
- Changes in the nipple, such as inverting or flattening the nipple.
- A feeling of swelling or redness in the nipple.
- General weakness in the body.
- Dry cough.
- Severe headache.
- pain in chest.
- Vision problems.
- Anorexia.
- Bloating.
- Confusion.
- Jaundice.
- Constantly nausea.
- Loss of balance.
All you need to know about breast cancer
All you need to know about breast cancer
All you need to know about breast cancer
