Breast cancer - stages of development, symptoms, treatment, prognosis

Breast cancer - symptoms, treatment

Doctors insist that every woman should know the symptoms of breast cancer, because this disease is the leader in the ranking of oncology. The problem is that at the early stage of the disease, the symptoms are not very pronounced, and therefore women complain to doctors too late. Usually when radical treatment is appropriate.

First signs of breast cancer

Accidentally, a woman may find a thickening in the form of nodules and "balls" localized in the breast. But this is not always a sign of cancer! Such seals may indicate the development of mastopathy or mastitis, so an accurate diagnosis should be carried out in a specialized clinic in any case. However, lumps are the first signs of breast cancer, which can be detected by doing a breast examination yourself:

in front of the mirror, you need to visually examine the chest - you can detect indentation of the nipples and deformation of the mammary gland;
perform a breast palpation (probing) - there are lumps, bumps, unevenness of the structure;
painful sensations in the axillary region are observed when raising the arms;
when pressing on the nipples, a pink/white discharge may appear;
focal redness of the mammary glands, which is visualized in front of a mirror.

An early stage of breast cancer may be accompanied by other signs:

a change in the skin of the breast - spots similar to psoriasis, hyperemic foci, small rashes;
periodic rise in body temperature;
pain syndrome in the chest, which occurs immediately before menstruation.

Stages of breast cancer

In oncology, it is customary to distinguish the following stages of breast cancer:

1st stage – enlargement of the mammary glands, their induration is small, there are no metastases, the lymph nodes periodically increase in size, but remain painless;
2nd stage – the size of the induration increases and can reach 5 cm in diameter, metastases are detected in nearby lymph nodes, distant metastases may be detected during the examination;
3rd stage – the size of the neoplasm exceeds 5 cm in diameter, breast cancer metastases at this stage are in large numbers not only in lymph nodes, but also in distant organs and systems.

The fourth stage of the disease is characterized by the "exit" of the neoplasm outside the mammary gland, multiple metastases in the body. In this case, doctors diagnose "invasive breast cancer."

The type of treatment depends on the stage of breast cancer. It can be both conservative therapy and surgical intervention, including complete removal of the mammary glands.

Treatment of breast cancer

Most often, after the diagnosis, the patient is sent to a specialized oncology clinic, where she will be prescribed effective treatment. It is believed that a full recovery is possible only if breast cancer is treated surgically, and then with hormonal drugs and radiation therapy.

If the diagnosis was made at the initial stage of breast cancer, doctors perform an operation to remove the neoplasm while preserving the breast. Such treatment is possible only when the size of the malignant tumor does not exceed 4 cm in diameter, without metastases in nearby lymph nodes and distant organs/systems.

After surgical removal, the tumor is sent to the laboratory for histological examination - this will help clarify the stage of the disease. After the surgeon removes the neoplasm, the patient must undergo a course of therapy, which includes:

Radiation therapy for breast cancer. It can happen in two ways. The first – the impact of ions is directed directly at the mammary gland, the second – the rays are directed at the tissue in the center of the malignant tumor.

In addition, women are prescribed hormonal drugs, which most often have to be taken for a long time - from 10 months to 3 years. In the case of a complete removal of the breast, maintenance therapy is prescribed for life.

Breast cancer prognosis

As a rule, the prognosis after surgery to remove a malignant tumor in the breast is favorable. But if the diagnosis was made at the 3rd stage of the disease, then in many cases even complete removal of the mammary glands does not bring recovery. Metastases have already spread throughout the body, and surgical treatment here is only a "postponement of sentence".

Many are interested in the life expectancy after breast cancer. No doctor will give an unequivocal answer to this question. According to statistics, patients live at least 5 years after surgical treatment. If the diagnosis was made at an early stage of the progression of a malignant tumor, the patient can live to a natural old age. After surgery to remove breast cancer, patients are under the supervision of a doctor. They are obliged to regularly visit a specialist and undergo preventive examinations. This will help to timely detect the recurrence of the disease and carry out adequate treatment.

All the details about the prevention of breast oncology and methods of treatment of breast cancer can be found on the pages of our website https://dobrobut.com/.< br>
Related services:
Chemotherapy course
Oncologist consultation