October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which is an annual campaign to increase awareness of the disease.
While most people are aware of breast cancer, many forget to take the steps to have a plan to detect the disease in its early stages and encourage others to do the same.
What Is Breast Cancer?
Breast cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the breast.
The damaged cells can invade surrounding tissue, but with early detection and treatment, most people continue a normal life.
Understanding Breast Cancer
Cancer is a broad term for a class of diseases characterised by abnormal cells that grow and invade healthy cells in the body. Breast cancer starts in the cells of the breast as a group of cancer cells that can then invade surrounding tissues or spread to other areas of the body.
What causes Cancer to develop?
Cancer begins in the cells which are the basic building blocks that make up tissue.Tissue is found in the breast and other parts of the body. Sometimes, the process of cell growth goes wrong and new cells form when the body doesn’t need them and old or damaged cells do not die as they should.
When this occurs, a build-up of cells often forms a mass of tissue called a lump, growth, or tumour. Breast cancer occurs when malignant tumours develop in the breast.
These cells can spread by breaking away from the original tumor and entering blood vessels or lymph vessels, which branch into tissues throughout the body. When cancer cells travel to other parts of the body and begin damaging other tissues and organs, the process is called metastasis.
Male Breast Cancer
All people, whether male or female, are born with some breast cells and tissue.
Even though males do not develop milk-producing breasts, a man’s breast cells and tissue can still develop cancer.
However, male breast cancer is very rare. Less than one percent of all breast cancer cases develop in men, and only one in a thousand men will ever be diagnosed with breast cancer.
Breast cancer in men is usually detected as a hard lump underneath the nipple and areola. Men carry a higher mortality than women do, primarily because awareness among men is less and they are less likely to assume a lump is breast cancer, which can cause a delay in seeking treatment.
Signs and symptoms
Male breast cancer can exhibit the same symptoms as breast cancer in women, including a lump. Anyone who notices anything unusual about their breasts, whether male or female, should see a doctor immediately.
Survival rates and treatment for men with breast cancer are very similar to those for women. Early detection of breast cancer increases treatment options and often reduces the risk of dying from breast cancer.
According to the World Health Organisation, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands of women globally.
Many breast lumps are harmless, but they should all be checked. It is important for women to do monthly breast self-examinations and to go for a mammogram (a special x-ray to detect lumps in the breast) at least every three years.
