Le cancer du sein, que faut il savoir à propos?

Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that develops in many women and is a leading cause of death in women aged 35 to 65. However, if detected and treated promptly, 9 out of 10 cases can be cured. What is breast cancer? What causes it? How is it detected and what treatment leads to remission?

What is breast cancer?

The female breast is made up of mammary glands and ducts that carry breast milk to the nipple (milk ducts). Breast cancer results from the cancerous transformation of one of these glandular cells of the breast. Their disruption and multiplication leads to the formation of a mass called a tumor.

There are two types of breast cancer depending on the aggressiveness and frequency of progression:

Non-invasive breast cancer where the cancer cells are confined to the lobules or ducts
Invasive breast cancer where the cells spread to other organs

What are the risks factors?

There are certain causes or factors that predispose a woman more than another to breast cancer. These include: heredity, personal history, lifestyle, a diet high in animal fat and low in fiber, and obesity.

In contrast to these risk factors, there are others that will limit the risk of becoming ill, such as an active lifestyle, a healthy and balanced diet or breastfeeding.

How to detect breast cancer: symptoms and screening

The most obvious symptom of breast cancer is a lump in the breast. But nowadays, with the progress of screening, cancers are detected on mammograms at early stages and even before the appearance of any mass. More rarely, there are other symptoms such as breast deformity, nipple retraction, breast discharge, lymph nodes in the armpit or a change in the skin color of the nipple.

Screening saves many lives. Therefore, we invite all women from the age of 25 onwards to have mammograms every two years and to self-screen.

Self palpation is required in order to have a constant look at the state of the breasts. It is a gesture that should be performed every month after menstruation in order to inspect both breasts for possible discharge, cracks, abnormal folds or peeling skin. Raise one arm, and with the three fingers of the other hand (index, middle and ring fingers), feel the breast on the same side as the raised arm, starting from the outside of the breast. Always with these three fingers, make small circles on your breast, passing well everywhere, and pressing well. Do not forget to pass, while making small circles, between the breasts and at the level of the armpit. Continue the palpation, passing over the sternum, under the collarbone. During the palpation: either you did not feel anything, which means that everything is normal. Either you felt a lump, or a harder spot, in which case, note the area concerned. We finish the autopalpation by lingering on the nipple, the tip of the breasts.

Pinch it gently: either everything is normal or some liquid comes out, again note it. Do the same on the other breast

What are the possible ways of treatment?

Breast cancer treatment requires close coordination between different medical and paramedical disciplines because it combines, depending on the needs, surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and new targeted treatments. These different treatments can be used alone or, more often, in combination.

The choice of a particular treatment depends on various factors, the most important of which are:

Type of breast cancer;
Node Invasion or Not;
The presence or absence of hormone receptors on the surface of cancer cells;
The presence or absence of metastases in other organs;
The person's age and general condition.

Moreover, the therapeutic strategy is never established by a single doctor. Each patient diagnosed with breast cancer is the subject of a Multidisciplinary Oncology Consultation (MOC), where doctors from different disciplines meet. The choice of treatment is the result of this MOC. Each treatment is therefore individualized.

The effects of breast cancer treatments are not strictly limited to the cancer cells. Healthy tissue can also be affected, which is why side effects often vary in intensity from person to person. Most side effects diminish over time and disappear after treatment is stopped. In some cases, medication is required to control the side effects. Side effects are managed by treatment.

Remission

After the end of cancer treatment, the patient enters a remission phase during which he or she can be managed to overcome possible after-effects or reduce the risk of cancer recurrence in subsequent years.

Contrary to what one might think, the remission period is not an easy stage for the patient. The presence of family and friends as well as psychological support are essential in order to overcome the pain more quickly.

Unfortunately, the damage caused by cancer goes far beyond the physical consequences. But the risk of dying from it is lower as long as the tumor is detected as early as possible and the patient is taken care of and properly assisted. Be careful is therefore the watchword even more in this month of awareness against breast cancer.