Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer: Early Detection Saves Lives

Linda A Long

Mount Olive College

ENG 312 McBride

Abstract

Early detection is crucial when it comes to breast cancer. This paper is going to discuss how a diagnosis is made, what treatment options are available as well as the effect our physical health has on recurrence. Breast cancer is the number two killer of women by disease in the United States. I will discuss contributing factors that will increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer. Breast cancer can leave physical as well as emotional scars on those affected by this disease. It is likely that someone in your family or someone you know has had or will have breast cancer and has or will experience the devastating effects. My sister was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer, this paper is for her.

Breast Cancer : Early Detection Saves Lives

For years a woman’s examination of her own breast has been the first line of defense in identifying breast cancer. Usually by the time a woman discovered she had a mass and presented to her doctor, the mass would be in advanced stages making treatment difficult and prognosis poor.

An important development in diagnosis came in the 70s via the invention of mammography Tabar` and Dean (2010). Mammography allowed tumors to be discovered that were not detectable during self- examination. By having regular screenings with mammography 50% of invasive cancers will be detected while in the early stages, and fewer than 20% will involve axillary nodes and only about 20% will be poorly differentiated Tabar` and Dean (2010).

Early detection is important because of the belief that if cancer is caught in its earliest stages, the development to a systemic disease can be arrested Tabar` and Dean (2010). There has been opposition to this theory; Bernard Fisher’s theory states that breast cancer is a systemic disease at its conception Tabar ` and Dean (2011). Randomized controlled trials have been carried out to test...