More About Breast Cancer

There are three ways to screen for breast cancer. They are:

• Mammograms (breast x-rays)
• Clinical breast exams (breast exams by a doctor or nurse)
• Breast self-examination.

Mammography performed in women with no symptoms of breast cancer is usually called screening. Although mammography cannot find every breast cancer, it is currently the best early detection tool available. Studies show that having mammograms every 1 to 2 years saves lives in women aged 40 and older. It is important for each woman to discuss mammography with her doctor so they can decide together what is right for her.

In recent years, detection methods have improved through better imaging technologies, such as ultrasound and computer tomography. These may spare some women surgical biopsy.

Early breast cancer usually does not cause pain. Indeed, when breast cancer first develops, there may be no symptoms at all. But as the cancer grows, it can cause changes that women should watch for:

• A lump or thickening in or near the breast or in the underarm area
• A change in the size or shape of the breast
• A discharge from the nipple
• A change in the color or feel of the skin of the breast, areola, or nipple -- it may be dimpled, puckered, or scaly

A woman should see her doctor if she notices any of these changes.

An abnormal area on a mammogram, a lump, or other changes in the breast can be caused by cancer or by other, less serious problems. To find out the cause of any of these signs or symptoms, a woman's doctor does a careful physical exam and asks her personal and family medical history. In addition to checking general signs of health, the doctor may do one or more breast exams.

Methods of treatment for breast cancer are either local or systemic. Local treatments are used to remove, destroy, or control the cancer cells in a specific area. Surgery and radiation therapy are local treatments. Systemic treatments are used to destroy or control cancer cells anywhere in the body. Chemotherapy and hormonal therapy are systemic treatments. A patient may have just one form of treatment or a combination.

Surgery is the most common treatment for breast cancer. But each treatment program has to be tailored to the patient's needs.

According to the American Cancer Society, 96 percent of women with localized breast cancer survive at least five years. If the cancer has spread, the rate is 75 percent -- less than 75 percent if it has spread far throughout the body.