Health Tips 101

If a breast cancer is diagnosed to be “in situ” this means that the cancer is contained and has yet to spread or invade any of the surrounding tissue.

When the cancer is in the milk duct lining but has not started to spread it is called Ducal Carcinoma in situ, this is a highly treatable form of breast cancer.

Lobular Carcinoma in situ is a type of cancer that is located in the lobule and has not spread. There are some that believe this is an early warning of possible cancer, and others seem to think that it is breast cancer but is a very treatable form of cancer.

If the cancer starts in one of the milk producing lobules and has broken thru and spread to the surrounding tissue, it is considered Invasive Ductal Carcinoma.

Some of the other forms of breast cancer include, Paget’s disease that involves the nipple and the dark tissue that surrounds the nipple, or it may be inflammatory breast cancer that blocks lymph vessels close to the surface of the skin. This will often be accompanied by an inflammation of the affected area. Sarcoma is a form of breast cancer that concerns the connective tissue found in the breast, and recurrent breast cancer is cancer that has either returned or may have developed in some other organ or tissue of the body.

Cancer has been studied and researched for hundreds of years, and mankind has come to a better understanding of the causes and treatments of breast cancer. The medical community began to understand the body’s circulatory systems and how it worked back in the 17th century. Using this research we realized that once a cancer developed in the breast it was capable of spreading very rapidly through the lymph nodes located next to the breast and under the arms.

To stop this invasion it became commonplace to not only remove the affected breast tissue but also remove the lymph nodes. Records for mastectomies being performed date back to the 19th century. Modern medicine has come up with many different options for the treatment of breast cancer. And while the newer procedures are much more advanced, the main part of the process remains the same. This is to remove the cancer through a surgical procedure and then follow up with a program that may include chemotherapy, radiation treatments, drug therapy and sometimes natural herbal treatments are used. There are some instances of cancer that may be treated without surgery of any kind.

There has been a dramatic increase in breast cancer diagnosis starting in the late 20th century, and while there are more medical professionals researching ways to prevent and cure this deadly disease it has become clear that prevention is a much better option. It is not known if breast cancer is connected to the highly toxic environment that we live in, but the need to better understand the causes, ways to prevent this disease, and more advanced treatment options are needed more than ever.