Breeast Cancer Scare?
i have noticed a large lump in my left breast, it doesnt hurt but when i squeeze it, a great amount of jelly-like puss comes out. I went to the doctors when there wasnt any puss to check about the lump, and they said my breats was fine, but as i was laying down the lump was unnoticable. The puss doesnt come out when im on my period and doesnt smell. I keep trying to convince myself that im fine but now, im not so sure, and im scared to go to the doctors because im under 16 and under 16′s must go with a adult. I dont want to worry my mom as she has already lost 2 kids but im really worried and keep trying to put it off until i turn 16. is there anyway i can be sure if its cancer?
It is better to tell your mom. I know you don’t want to scare her but if it is something serious it is better to catch it earlier. Please see a doctor.
The only way to be sure is go to the doctor before it’s to late. They can usually cure the cancer quicker before it spreads, and maybe even before they have to cut your breast off.
Tell your doc. what happened with the puss. It could just be an infection and you got bit.
But don’t hesitate to tell your mom, she needs to know.
It’s nothing to mess around with.
There is a way to be sure if its cancer- and only one way- its called a biopsy, and you will need to see a doctor and tell your mom in order to get one. If you are that concerned, you should ask your mom to take you to the doctor.
Everything u would want to know about Breast cancer….
Breast cancer is a cancer of the breast tissue. Worldwide, it is the most common form of cancer in females – affecting, at some time in their lives, approximately one out of thirty-nine[1] to one out of three women who reach age ninety in the Western world. It is the second most fatal cancer in women (after lung cancer), and the number of cases has significantly increased since the 1970s, a phenomenon partly blamed on modern lifestyles in the Western world.[1][2] Because the breast is composed of identical tissues in males and females, breast cancer also occurs in males, and as statistics show, it is on a massive increase, hence the mass TV promotions aimed at men at present.
It is important to have a model of causation of a disease in order to distinguish epidemiological risk factors or associations with disease, from the biological etiology and primary cause, secondary co-factors, and simple promoters of the disease. The first work on breast cancer epidemiology was done by Janet Lane-Claypon, who published a comparative study in 1926 of 500 breast cancer cases and 500 control patients of the same background and lifestyle for the British Ministry of Health.
Today, breast cancer, like other forms of cancer, is considered to be a result of damage to DNA. How this mechanism may occur comes from several known or hypothesized factors (such as exposure to ionizing radiation). Some factors lead to an increased rate of mutation (exposure to estrogens) and decreased repair (the BRCA1, BRCA2 and p53 genes). Although many epidemiological risk factors, and biological co-factors and promoters have been identified, the majority of breast cancer incidence remains unattributable, and the primary cause is unknown.
Dietary influences have been proposed and examined, but these are small effects, and do not distinguish differences in risk within populations, as well as they do between populations.
A significant environmental effect was revealed by the large difference in breast cancer incidence between countries and continents, and a migration effect which slowly increases the risk of breast cancer even across generations after migration from a country of lower incidence to a country of higher incidence, such as moving from China or Japan to the United States.
Humans are not the only mammal prone to breast cancer. Some strains of mice, namely the house mouse (Mus domesticus) are prone to breast cancer which is caused by infection with the mouse mammary tumour virus (MMTV or “Bittner virus” for its discoverer Hans Bittner), by random insertional mutagenesis. Suspicion of MMTV or other viruses in human breast cancer is controversial, and the idea is not generally accepted for lack of direct and definitive evidence. There is much more research in diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer than in its cause.
[edit] Age
The risk of getting breast cancer increases with age. For someone who lives to the age of 90, the chances of getting breast cancer is about 14.3% or one in seven during their lifetime.[5] Men can also develop breast cancer, but their risk is less than one in 1000 (see sex and illness). [citation needed] This risk is modified by many different factors. In a very small 5% of breast cancer cases, there is a strong inherited familial risk.[6]
The probability of breast cancer rises with age but breast cancer tends to be more aggressive when it occurs in younger people. One type of breast cancer that is especially aggressive and disproportionately occurs in younger people is inflammatory breast cancer. It is initially staged as Stage IIIb or Stage IV. It also is unique because it often does not present with a lump so that it often is not detected by mammography or ultrasound. It presents with the signs and symptoms of a breast infection like mastitis.
[edit] Alcohol
Alcohol generally appears to increase the risk of breast cancer. The UK’s [5] Review of Alcohol: Association with Breast Cancer concludes that “studies confirm previous observations that there appears to be an association between alcohol intake and increased risk of breast cancer in women. On balance, there was a weak association between the amount of alcohol consumed and the relative risk.”
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) concludes that “Chronic alcohol consumption has been associated with a small (averaging 10 percent) increase in a woman’s risk of breast cancer (Friedenreich et al.; Longnecker; Nasca). According to these studies, the risk appears to increase as the quantity and duration of alcohol consumption increases. Other studies, however, have found no evidence of such a link (Chu et al. ; Schatzkin et al.; Webser et al).”[7]
The Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products Non-Technical Summary [8] concludes, “the new research estimates that a woman drinking an average of two units of alcohol per day has a lifetime risk of developing breast cancer 19% higher than a woman who drinks an average of one unit of alcohol per day. The risk of breast cancer further increases with each additional drink consumed per day. The research also concludes that approximately 6% (between 3.2% and 8.8%) of breast cancers reported in the UK each year could be prevented if drinking was reduced to a very low level (i.e. less than 1 unit/week).”
It has been reported that “two drinks daily increase the risk of getting breast cancer by about 25 percent” (NCI), but the evidence is inconsistent. The Framingham study has carefully tracked individuals since the 1940s. Data from that research found that drinking alcohol moderately did not increase breast cancer risk (Wellness Facts). Similarly, research by the Danish National Institute for Public Health found that moderate drinking had virtually no effect on breast cancer risk (Petri, et al).
Breast cancer constitutes about 7.3% of all cancers.[9] Among women, breast cancer comprises 60% of alcohol-attributable cancers.[10] One study suggests that women who frequently drink red wine may have an increased risk of developing breast cancer.[11]
“Folate intake counteracts breast cancer risk associated with alcohol consumption”[12] and “women who drink alcohol and have a high folate intake are not at increased risk of cancer.”[13] Those who have a high (200 micrograms or more per day) level of folate (folic acid or Vitamin B9) in their diet are not at increased risk of breast cancer compared to those who abstain from alcohol.[14] Foods rich in folate include citrus fruits, citrus juices, dark green leafy vegetables (such as spinach), dried beans, and peas. Vitamin B9 can also be taken in a multivitamin pill.
[edit] Environmental causes
All women and men are at risk for breast cancer, regardless of hereditary factors. In fact, 85 to 90 percent of breast cancer incidences cannot be explained by inherited genetic predisposition. Other known risk factors and personal characteristics include personal or family history of breast cancer, high breast tissue density, earlier onset of menstruation (8 years or younger), later menopause (55 years or older), late first-term pregnancy (25 years or older), no children or no breast-feeding, early or recent use of oral contraceptives, more than four years use of hormone replacement therapy, postmenopausal obesity, alcohol consumption, exposures to secondhand cigarette smoke and exposure to ionizing radiation.[15]
When all known risk factors and characteristics are added together including genetics and family history, as much as 50 percent of breast cancer cases remain unexplained.[16]
Although environmental exposures are not generally cited as risk factors for the disease (except for diet, pharmaceuticals and radiation), a substantial and growing body of evidence indicates that exposures to certain toxic chemicals and hormone-mimicking compounds including chemicals used in pesticides, cosmetics and cleaning products contribute to the development of breast cancer.
A recent Canadian study concluded that female farm workers are three times more likely to have breast cancer.[17]
[edit] Genes
Two autosomal dominant genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, have been linked to the rare familial form of breast cancer. People in families expressing mutations in these genes have a 60% to 80% risk of developing breast cancer according to Robbins Pathological Basis of Disease. If a mother or a sister was diagnosed breast cancer, the risk is about 2-fold higher than those women without a familial history.
[edit] Hormones
Persistently increased blood levels of estrogen are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, as are increased levels of the androgens androstenedione and testosterone (which can be directly converted by aromatase to the estrogens estrone and estradiol, respectively). Increased blood levels of progesterone are associated with a decreased risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women.[18] A number of circumstances which increase exposure to endogenous estrogens including not having children, delaying first childbirth, not breastfeeding, early menarche (the first menstrual period) and late menopause are suspected of increasing lifetime risk for developing breast cancer.[19]
Combined oral contraceptive pills may produce a slight increase in breast cancer risk among long-term users, but this appears to be a short-term effect. The largest meta-analysis (1996) of data from 54 studies identified a relative risk (RR) of 1.24 for current users; 10 or more years after stopping, no difference was seen. Further, the cancers diagnosed in women who had ever used hormonal contraceptives were less advanced than those in nonusers, raising the possibility that the small excess among users was due to increased detection. Breast cancer risk associated with hormonal contraceptive use did not appear to vary with family history of breast cancer.[20]
Data exist from both observational and randomized clinical trials regarding the association between postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and breast cancer. The largest meta-analysis (1997) of data from 51 observational studies, indicated a relative risk of breast cancer of 1.35 for women who had used HRT for 5 or more years after menopause. The estrogen-plus-progestin arm of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), a randomized controlled trial, which randomized more than 16,000 postmenopausal women to receive combined hormone therapy or placebo, was halted early (2002) because health risks exceeded benefits. One of the adverse outcomes prompting closure was a significant increase in both total and invasive breast cancers (RR = 1.24) in women randomized to receive estrogen and progestin for an average of 5 years. HRT-related breast cancers had adverse prognostic characteristics (more advanced stages and larger tumors) compared with cancers occurring in the placebo group, and HRT was also associated with a substantial increase in abnormal mammograms. Short-term use of hormones for treatment of menopausal symptoms appears to confer little or no breast cancer risk.[20]
[edit] Light levels
Researchers at the National Cancer Institute and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences have concluded a study that suggests that artificial light can be a factor for breast cancer.[21]
[edit] Obesity
Gaining weight after the menopause can increase a woman’s or man’s risk. Putting on 9.9kg (22lbs) increased the risk of developing breast cancer by 18%.[22]
[edit] Unproven
* It has been hypothesized that abortion may increase the risk of breast cancer because of hormones in early pregnancy. Recent large studies do not support this association.[23]
* Although not well quantified there has long been a concern about risk associated with environmental estrogenic compounds, such as dioxins, or phytoestrogens such as found in soy beans.[24]
* Aluminum salts such as those used in anti-perspirants have recently been classified as metalloestrogens. In research published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology, Dr. Philippa D. Darbre of the University of Reading has shown that aluminium salts increase estrogen-related gene expression in human breast cancer cells grown in the laboratory.[25][26][27]
[edit] Prevention in high-risk individuals
Prophylactic oophorectomy (removal of ovaries), post-child-bearing, reduces the risk of developing breast cancer by 50%, as well as reducing the risk of developing ovarian cancer by 96%.[28] The side effects of Oophorectomy may be alleviated by medicines other than hormonal replacement. Non-hormonal biphosphonates (such as Fosamax and Actonel) increase bone strength and are available as once-a-week pills. Low-dose Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (e.g. Paxil, Prozac) alleviate vasomotor menopausal symptoms, i.e. “hot flashes”.[29]
[edit] Prevention of Environmental Causes
Fewer than 10 percent of breast cancers are genetic. When all known risk factors and characteristics are added together, including family history, genetics, smoking and obesity, more than 50 percent of breast cancer cases remain unexplained. [30] According to State of the Evidence 2006 – What Is the Connection Between the Environment and Breast Cancer?”, a report which reviews and analyzes nearly 350 journal-published scientific studies on environmental links to breast cancer:
* Over 100,000 synthetic chemicals are registered for use today in the United States, with an additional 1,000 new chemicals added each year, yet less than 10 percent of these chemicals have been tested for their effects on human health. Large numbers of these chemicals are found in products we come into contact with every day and compelling scientific evidence points to these chemicals as contributing to the development of breast cancer, either by altering hormone function or gene expression
* Many toxic chemicals are now credibly linked to serious chronic diseases including breast cancer. Furthermore, new science demonstrates that even very small amounts of some chemicals can have adverse health effects, particularly in pregnant mothers, infants and small children. (See State of the Evidence)
The Breast Cancer Fund suggests the following environmental prevention methods:
* Practice Healthy Purchasing: Don’t bring toxic chemicals home from the store. Choose chlorine-free paper products to reduce dioxin, a carcinogen released when chlorinated products are incinerated. Read food labels, and choose pesticide-free, organic produce and hormone-free meats and dairy products. Replace harmful household cleaners that contain bleach with cheaper, nontoxic alternatives like baking soda, borax soap and vinegar. Look for alternatives to chemical weed and bug killers— many contain toxic chemicals that accumulate in our bodies.
* Use Caution with Plastics: Some plastics leach hormone-disrupting chemicals called phthalates into the substances they touch. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastics release carcinogens into our air and water during the production process. PVC plastics are especially dangerous in toys that children put in their mouths, so keep an eye out for nontoxic toys. Further, never put plastic or plastic wrap in the microwave, as this can release phthalates into food and beverages.
* Advocate for Clean Air: The soot and fumes released by factories, automobiles, diesel trucks and tobacco products contain chemicals called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are linked to breast cancer. Indeed, breathing these compounds from secondhand tobacco smoke may increase your risk for breast cancer more than active smoking. Stay away from secondhand smoke, and advocate for stronger clean air protections.
* Avoid Unnecessary Radiation: Ionizing radiation is a known cause of breast cancer. Radiation damage to genes is cumulative over a lifetime—thus many low doses may have the same effect as a single high dose. Mammograms, other X-rays and CT scans expose you to radiation. While mammography screening may benefit postmenopausal women, mammography for women in their 30s and 40s remains controversial. Whenever you have an X-ray or scan, request a lead shield to protect the areas of your body not being X-rayed.
* Explore Alternatives to Artificial Estrogens: Women who have prolonged exposure to estrogens are at higher risk for breast cancer, and major studies continue to show an increased risk when postmenopausal women use hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Women who use both birth control pills and—later in life—HRT face an even greater risk of breast cancer than those who use neither. Explore your options with healthcare professionals.
* Advocate for Safe Cosmetics: Chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects do not belong in cosmetics, period. However, some popular brands of shampoo, deodorant, face cream and other everyday products contain these dangerous chemicals. The Breast Cancer Fund demands safer products and smarter laws by letting cosmetics companies know they need a makeover. The public can join BCF in asking cosmetic companies to sign the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, a pledge to substitute chemicals linked to birth defects, infertility, cancer, brain damage and other serious health consequences with safer alternatives.[31]
[edit] Symptoms
Early breast cancer can in some cases be painful. Usually breast cancer is discovered before any symptoms are present, either on mammography or by feeling a breast lump. A lump under the arm or above the collarbone that does not go away may be present. Other possible symptoms include breast discharge, nipple inversion and changes in the skin overlying the breast [