Breast cancer is a dangerous disease, which generally occurs when a malignant tumor develops in the breast. Through continuous growth of the swelling, it may then spread to the other parts of the body. The spreading process is referred to as distant metastasis. Most of the breast cancer cases occur in women. Although in recent years, reports indicate that men can also get the disease. According to the study, they account for about 0.5 % of all breast cancer cases in the world. In the last 50 years, medical specialists have achieved substantial progress in the analysis and treatment of breast cancer patients, causing a 40% reduction in death rates from this disease and decrease in problems of treatment (Mansfield et al., 2016). This advancement has occurred because of the understanding that breast cancer streams from different diseases with biologically engineered subtypes.
Breast cancer is preventable by employing cancer risk assessment while successful treatment is only attainable through early detection and mainly, medical officers apply several treatment approaches to each of the identified subtypes. This paper addresses the breast cancer preventive methods, and, effects of gender and genetics on its development. Moreover, it evaluates the treatment means and the possible short-term and long-term implications to help in devising effective ways to curb the growing dangers of the disease among people in the world.
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Preventive measures
Nations in the world have joined efforts in the fight against breast cancer menace. Prevention endeavors have been in the forefront as part of comprehensive cancer care by considering potential causes such as family history, multiple breast biopsies, gender and genetics and several growths in breasts.
Routine cancer screening is one of the key ways in which medical providers apply to prevent breast cancer incidences. In doing this, health experts use techniques such as molecular breast imaging, 3-D capable mammography, MRI and ultrasound. Mainiero et al. (2016) argue that the essence of this is to identify people who depict asymptomatic cancer to ensure they undergo less invasive treatments that yield positive results, usually at early stages before the cancer advances.
Genetic testing is also another preventive method and is usually administered to ascertain genetic mutation linked with breast cancer. Some elements that doctors study include personal and family assessment of breast cancer history (Mansfield et al., 2016). If for example the professionals detect any greater possibilities of getting the disease than the average patient, they thus recommend for additional routine screenings like MRIs.
Risk-reduction medications such as raloxifene, aromatase inhibitors, and tamoxifen similarly play a fundamental role in protecting probable breast cancer development. According to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), the above medications help in reducing women probabilities of developing invasive breast cancer (Siu, 2016). Nonetheless, the task force advised that the drugs could have serious harms depending on a person’s risk aspects.
Impacts of genetics and gender
Making preventive decisions for breast cancer is depended on various elements, which may comprise of gender and genetics. Based on gender, medical providers have discovered that breast cancer cases are more common in women than in men thus forming a crucial base in making essential prevention approaches. Besides, since the genetic mutation is the primary process in the growth of cancer, family history of breast cancer can help in knowing the vulnerability of a person to breast cancer. Breast cancer patients and early population-based screening studies have uncovered that, between 10% and 15% of women having an extensive family history carry BRCA1/2 mutations while nearly half of BRCA mutations carriers do not know their condition (Monticciolo et al., 2017). In making the preventive decisions, health service providers will thus recommend for more regular cancer prevention services for women than men since they have the highest probability of getting the disease. Following the first consultation also, medical practitioners mostly will opt for genetic testing to know the levels of breast cancer risks in the family. After discovering that, there is a higher possibility of genetic passage of the disease, they will thus opt for the best preventive measures such as increased surveillance and risk-reducing medications.
Drug treatment and implications
Cancer therapy is rapidly growing in recent times. Medical professionals are now equipped with the versed knowledge on the workability of cancer disease and ways in dealing with its different underlying components. In addressing the menace, doctors may opt for a collection of reagents aiming at several hallmarks and apply constant changes to target the developing cancer cells (Potter et al., 2016). Drug treatment methods may include chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and hormone therapy.
Chemotherapy usually targets cells that develop and mutate quickly such as those of cancer. Unlike surgery and radiation that aim at particular areas, chemotherapy is applicable throughout a patient’s body (Huether & McCance, 2017). During administering, a doctor may choose to inject it through a vein or give it as a pill. Sometimes this may happen through both ways.
Targeted therapy is also another drug treatment approach for cancer disease. Siu (2016) state that, the procedure typically works by using drugs to block the development of breast cancer cells. An excellent example of such process is whereby, targeted therapy is used to prevent the activities of an abnormal protein particularly HER2 that induces the growth of breast cancer cells.
Another critical drug treatment method is the use of hormone therapy. This strategy is mostly applicable in a case whereby the medical experts realize that the breast tumor has hormone receptors (Huether & McCance, 2017). The advantage of hormone therapy is that it bars the cancer cells from using or getting the natural hormones (estrogen and progesterone) essential for their growth.
Although drug treatment methods for breast cancer are effective, they may have both short and long-term side effects. For instance, chemotherapy and hormone therapy may cause future issues such as osteoporosis. This condition leads to joint pain and thinning of the bones. Digestion problems and diarrhea is also a probable short-term effect of undergoing chemotherapy (Potter et al., 2016). Targeted therapy may also have an impact on individuals such as high blood pressure in the short-term and problems in the endocrine system in the long-term.
Conclusion
In summary, breast cancer has become a life-threatening disease in the modern world with the highest effects on women gender. Based on this, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in conjunction with other cancer research bodies have recommended for frequent tests on the women who have a family history of the disease since they may be probable victims. Despite the prevalence of the disease, many medical experts have devised ways in preventing its occurrence by advising people of all gender to undertake the cancer risk assessment to ascertain their status. According to various studies, treatment of breast cancer is possible at early detection through surgery and drug treatment methods such as chemotherapy and targeted therapy.
References
Huether, S. E., & McCance, K. L. (2017). Understanding pathophysiology (6th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.
Mainiero, M. B., Lourenco, A., Mahoney, M. C., Newell, M. S., Bailey, L., Barke, L. D., ... & Jokich, P. M. (2016). ACR appropriateness criteria breast cancer screening. Journal of the American College of Radiology, 13(11), R45-R49.
Mansfield, C., Tangka, F. K., Ekwueme, D. U., Smith, J. L., Guy Jr, G. P., Li, C., & Hauber, A. B. (2016). Peer reviewed: stated preference for cancer screening: a systematic review of the literature, 1990–2013. Preventing chronic disease, 13.
Monticciolo, D. L., Newell, M. S., Hendrick, R. E., Helvie, M. A., Moy, L., Monsees, B., ... & Sickles, E. A. (2017). Breast cancer screening for average-risk women: recommendations from the ACR Commission on Breast Imaging. Journal of the American College of Radiology, 14(9), 1137-1143.
Potter, P. A., Perry, A. G., Stockert, P., & Hall, A. (2016). Fundamentals of Nursing-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Siu, A. L. (2016). Screening for breast cancer: US Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement. Annals of internal medicine, 164(4), 279-296.
