For many women, breasts are a very visible symbol of femininity, “ a focal point of sexuality or fashion as well as a proud source of nurturing new life. For others, the breast is a body part shrouded by custom and religious taboos”. Breasts are made up of several kinds of cells: adipose (fatty tissue), stroma (connective tissue), and the epithelium that forms milk-producing glands. Breast size depends on heredity and body weight. A common misconception is that the larger the breast the greater the risk for breast cancer. VERY UNTRUE.

There is not just one contributing factor to the existence of breast cancer. There are numerous causes and by studying these factors we can see who is at high risk. Women between the ages of 25-29 who have used or are using oral contraceptiv

Breast cancer is a horrible disease and it devastates thousands of families each year. What makes it more difficult to swallow is that a woman is at high risk just because she is a woman. The cause of breast cancer is unknown; therefore there is no known way of preventing the disease. The best alternative is to discover the disease as early as possible through regular breast exams and mammography.

“Moderate use of oral contraceptives and postmenopausal estrogens probably has more advantages with respect to general health than disadvantages in terms of breast cancer risk. Oral contraceptives and postmenopausal estrogens should be limited to use to less than 10 years to reduce the chance of getting breast cancer. Tamoxifen is an ‘anti-estrogen’ drug that is used to fight some types of breast cancer. There was a study done in North America that used 13,000 volunteers who had 5 times higher than normal risk of developing breast cancer. Tamoxifen was shown to reduce the chance of getting breast cancer, but increased the chance of getting blood clots in the legs and cancer of the uterus. For those women at very high risk who have had a hysterectomy, the benefits are much greater than the risks.

A mammogram is a low dose x-ray of the breast it is used to screen a large number of women who have no symptoms or those who have a suspicious lump in a breast. Screening with mammography has been proven to reduce deaths from breast cancer for women between the ages of 50-70. Mammography for women 39 years of age and younger has not been shown to benefit. One reason could be that breast cancer usually occurs in women over the age of 40. Also the breast tissue of a younger women is full of milk ducts and glands that can make cancers more difficult to see in an x-ray. Although a mammogram is not 100% accurate it is still the best test that is out there right now for detecting small breast cancers. There are other methods of screening that have been used like ultrasound, thermography, transillumination, CAT scan and magnetic resonance imaging. Ultrasound, thermography, and transillumination don’t seem to be as accurate in detecting small cancers, while CAT scans and magnetic resonance imaging are just as accurate as mammography but much more expensive and time consuming.

During treatments it is very important that the patient have lots of support from those around her. Practical and emotional support is much needed during this trying time in the patient’s life. A phone call, a shopping trip, a hug…as small as these things may seem, for a woman battling for her life, it would probably mean the world.

Another gene which is similar in function to P53 is ataxia telangilctasia mutated or

Some topics in this essay:
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