BREAST CANCER ( AN ONCOLOGIST PERSPECTIVE)

Why and How to do a Breast Self exams?

• A breast self exam is an exam you can do yourself to check for any breast abnormalities.

• When you do a breast self exam, you check for lumps, thickening, or dimples in the breast.

• You also check for lumps in your underarms and discharge from the nipple.

• They could help you notice changes that need to be checked further.

• When breast cancer is found early and treated right away, the chances for cure are much better.

How to perform Breast self exam:

1. Lie down and put your left arm under your head. This spreads the breast tissue more evenly on chest.

   • Use your right hand to examine your left breast. With the flat part of your 3 middle fingers, press gently in small circular motions over the entire area of the breast, checking for any lump, hard knot, or thickening. Use different degrees of pressure--light, medium, and firm-- to feel breast tissue at different levels in your breast.
   • Be sure to check the whole breast, from your collarbone above your breast and down until you feel only ribs below your breast.

2. After checking your left breast, put your right arm under your head. Use your left hand to examine your right breast in the same way you checked your left breast.

3. Look at your breasts while standing in front of a mirror with your hands pressing firmly down on your hips. Look for lumps, new differences in size and shape, and swelling or dimpling of the skin.

4. While standing or sitting, slightly raise one arm, then the other, so you can check your underarm area for lumps

5. Squeeze the nipple of each breast gently between your thumb and index finger to check for discharge or fluid from the nipples

If you want to check to see if you are doing the exam the right way, ask your healthcare provider to show you how to do it.

If you notice any of the following changes in your breast, call us ASAP for evaluation:

• You have a lump of any size. Usually the lump is not tender

• Your nipple is painful or it turns into the breast

• You have new wrinkling or dimpling of the skin

• The nipple and surrounding skin is red or has a scaly rash

• You have a discharge of fluid from the nipple

What Causes Breast Cancer

• Aging

• Physical inactivity

• Weight after menopause/obesity

• Early menarche, late menopause

• Hormone Replacement Therapy

• Familial & Hereditary causes

Various type of cancer:

• Can be multi-centric, bilateral

• Arises from the glands that produce breast milk

• It's about 15%-20% of Breast Cancers

• Arises from the ducts that carry the breast milk from the glands to the nipple 

• Comprises 80% of Breast Cancers

Staging and Management: TNM classification explained.

• Stage I: <2cm, No LN involvement

• Stage II: >2cm but <5cm, or LN involvement

• Stage IV: Distant metastasis

These include

1. Surgery

2. Radiation

3. Hormone modulation therapy

• To decide on the best treatment several factors are taken into consideration to include patient stage, prognostic markers, patient performance status, and others.

• Each patient's treatment is personalized to a certain extent while still following NCCN guidelines and best practices.