Why Does My Breast Dimpl
Skin dimpling can sometimes be a sign of inflammatory breast cancer, an aggressive type of breast cancer. Cancer cells can cause a buildup of lymph fluid in the breast that leads to swelling as well as dimpling or pitted skin. It is essential that anyone who notices skin dimpling speaks with a doctor.
How Long Do Side Effects Last
Remember that the type of radiation side effects you might have depends on the prescribed dose and schedule. Most side effects go away within a few months of ending treatment. Some side effects may continue after treatment ends because it takes time for the healthy cells to recover from radiation.
Side effects might limit your ability to do some things. What you can do will depend on how you feel. Some patients are able to go to work or enjoy leisure activities while they get radiation therapy. Others find they need more rest than usual and cant do as much. If you have side effects that are bothersome and affecting your daily activities or health, the doctor may stop your treatments for a while, change the schedule, or change the type of treatment youre getting. Tell your cancer care team about any side affects you notice so they can help you with them.
Are There Different Types Of Breast Pain
There are two distinct types of breast pain, which are:
- Cyclic breast pain. This type of breast pain lines up with your menstrual cycle. Because of that, its more common in 20-to-50-year-old women and its particularly common in women who are on the younger end of that range. You may have breast pain in one breast or both, and it typically occurs due to natural hormonal shifts. Roughly a week before your period, you may start to feel a little pain in the upper, outer parts of your breasts. Cyclic breast pain goes away naturally once you get your period, but returns during your next menstrual cycle. Most women dont experience this type of breast pain after menopause.
- Noncyclic breast pain. This type of breast pain has nothing to do with your menstrual cycle, and is more common in 40-to-50-year-old women.
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What Is Hormone Therapy For Breast Cancer
Hormone therapy is used to treat breast cancers that are oestrogen receptor positive. If you had a biopsy or surgery for primary breast cancer, the tissue removed will have been tested to see if it is ER+. However, in some people the oestrogen receptors change during the development of secondary breast cancer.
The Origin Of Left Breast Pain
Left-sided breast pain can originate in the breast itself or in other nearby structures. It can be hard to pinpoint the source.
The location of pain isn’t always the same location as the problem. Some nerves are very specific. For example, if you feel a sensation on your fingertip, it’s likely caused by something at that site.
Other nerves aren’t as specific. They alert you to the general area of a problem, not the precise location.
It’s common not to know whether your pain is in your breast or in something close to it.
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Why Is Radiation Often Needed After Surgery
Quite simply, radiation reduces the chance of cancer growing back in the area where the tumor was surgically removed. When a lumpectomy is performed, the surgeon removes a normal layer of breast tissue around the cancer, called margins. Even if the margins are clear and uninvolved with cancer, there is still a small chance cancer cells can be left behind in that area of the breast. In the future, these cells can grow to become a local recurrence of cancer in the same area of the surgery. Without radiation, the chance of local recurrence after a lumpectomy is about 15 to 25% over a period of 10 years. Radiation reduces this risk to about 5 to 8%.
Can You Enter Information About Breast Cancer
Cancer Pain. Once you create an account at Breastcancer.org, you can enter information about your breast cancer diagnosis , plan your treatments, and track your progress through treatments. Based on your unique information, Breastcancer.org can recommend articles that are highly relevant to your situation.
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How Is Breast Cancer Diagnosed
Your health care provider may use many tools to diagnose breast cancer and figure out which type you have:
- A physical exam, including a clinical breast exam . This involves checking for any lumps or anything else that seems unusual with the breasts and armpits.
- A medical history.
- Blood chemistry tests, which measure different substances in the blood, including electrolytes, fats, proteins, glucose , and enzymes. Some of the specific blood chemistry tests include a basic metabolic panel , a comprehensive metabolic panel , and an electrolyte panel.
If these tests show that you have breast cancer, you will have tests that study the cancer cells. These tests help your provider decide which treatment would be best for you. The tests may include:
- Genetic tests for genetic changes such as in the BRCA and TP53 genes.
- HER2 test. HER2 is a protein involved with cell growth. It is on the outside of all breast cells. If your breast cancer cells have more HER2 than normal, they can grow more quickly and spread to other parts of the body.
- An estrogen and progesterone receptor test. This test measures the amount of estrogen and progesterone receptors in cancer tissue. If there are more receptors than normal, the cancer is called estrogen and/or progesterone receptor positive. This type of breast cancer may grow more quickly.
What Are The Treatments For Breast Cancer
Treatments for breast cancer include:
- Surgery such as
- A mastectomy, which removes the whole breast
- A lumpectomy to remove the cancer and some normal tissue around it, but not the breast itself
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How Does Breast Cancer Affect The Body
Spread of the cancer to other parts of the body: Pain caused by cancer itself is more common in people who have metastatic disease, in which the breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body. For example, if the cancer travels to the bone, it can cause pain in the back, hips, or other bones. Cancer that has spread to the brain may cause headaches. Severe back pain with leg weakness may be from cancer that has spread to the vertebrae of the spine and weakens the spinal column, which is known as spinal cord compression. If the cancer travels to the adrenal glands on top of the kidneys, you may feel a dull back pain. If it spreads to the liver, you could have pain in the upper right part of the abdomen.
Inflammatory Breast Cancer Symptoms
Unlike other breast cancers, inflammatory breast cancer rarely causes breast lumps and may not appear on a mammogram. Inflammatory breast cancer symptoms include:
- Red, swollen, itchy breast that is tender to the touch
- The surface of the breast may take on a ridged or pitted appearance, similar to an orange peel
- Heaviness, burning, or aching in one breast
- One breast is visibly larger than the other
- Inverted nipple
- No mass is felt with a breast self-exam
- Swollen lymph nodes under the arm and/or above the collarbone
- Symptoms unresolved after a course of antibiotics
Unlike other breast cancers, inflammatory breast cancer usually does not cause a distinct lump in the breast. Therefore, a breast self-exam, clinical breast exam, or even a mammogram may not detect inflammatory breast cancer. Ultrasounds may also miss inflammatory breast cancer. However, the changes to the surface of the breast caused by inflammatory breast cancer can be seen with the naked eye.
Symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer can develop rapidly, and the disease can progress quickly. Any sudden changes in the texture or appearance of the breast should be reported to your doctor immediately.
For women who are pregnant or breast-feeding, redness, swelling, itchiness and soreness are often signs of a breast infection such as mastitis, which is treatable with antibiotics. If you are not pregnant or nursing and you develop these symptoms, your doctor should test for inflammatory breast cancer.
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The Breast Cancer Centers At Ctca
At the Breast Cancer Centers at each of our CTCA® hospitals, located across the nation, our cancer experts are devoted to a single missiontreating breast cancer patients with compassion and precision. Each patients care team is led by a medical oncologist and coordinated by a registered oncology nurse, who helps track the various appointments, follow up on tests and answer questions that come up along the way. Your care team also may include a breast surgeon, radiation oncologist, radiologist, pathologist and a plastic/reconstructive surgeon with advanced training in helping patients restore function and appearance. Fertility preservation and genetic testing are also available for qualifying patients who need them.
Our pathologists and oncologists are experienced and trained in tools designed to diagnose, stage and treat different types of breast cancer, from early-stage ductal carcinoma in situ to complex diseases such as triple-negative and inflammatory breast cancer. As part of our patient-centered care model, which is designed to help you keep strong during treatment, your multidisciplinary care team may recommend various evidence-informed supportive therapies, such as naturopathic support, psychosocial support, nutritional support, physical and occupational therapy and pain management. The entire team works together with a whole-person focus, which is at the heart of our centers dedication to personalized and comprehensive care.
Biologic And Targeted Therapies
Patients with HER2 positive breast cancer are given HER2 targeted therapy in combination with a chemotherapy backbone. The availability of HER2 targeted agents has dramatically changed the prognosis of patients with HER2 positive breast cancers. Initial trials randomizing patients to chemotherapy alone or chemotherapy plus trastuzumab, a monoclonal antibody directed against the HER2 receptor, demonstrated nearly 50% reduction in rate of recurrence.â At present, patients with stage I HER2 positive breast cancer often receive a regimen of paclitaxel with trastuzumab . Until United States Food and Drug Administration approval of pertuzumab in 2013, patients with stage II-III HER2 positive breast cancer received regimens with trastuzumab added to AC-T or to docetaxel and carboplatin . Recent data have shown an improvement in pathologic complete response rate when pertuzumab, an HER2 dimerization inhibitor, is added to trastuzumab in the neoadjuvant setting. Administration of dual-HER2 agents in the neoadjuvant setting is now standard for patients with stage II-III HER2 positive breast cancer., The National Comprehensive Cancer Network has also endorsed the addition of HP to chemotherapy for patients with the same burden of disease in the adjuvant setting if these therapies were not received neoadjuvantly. Recently the APHINITY trial demonstrated a small but statistically significant benefit of adjuvant HP-based over H-based therapy for one year.
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Is Shoulder Pain A Symptom Of Breast Cancer
In rare cases, shoulder pain can be a symptom of breast cancer. When it occurs, it is often a sign that breast cancer has spread, or metastasized, to other areas of your body. Breast cancer cells can spread through the blood or lymphatic system.
The main causes of shoulder pain due to breast cancer are:
- Bone tumors:One of the most common places for breast cancer to spread is bone. In people with early stage breast cancer, bone ranks as the most common location for the first site of metastasis. Pain can occur when bones are weakened by a tumor that grows from the spread of breast cancer cells. Unlike sore muscle pain that commonly occurs with overuse or wear and tear, bone pain causes a throbbing or deep aching pain.
- Fractures:When breast cancer spreads to the bones, it can weaken them by accelerating the breakdown of normal bone tissue or the formation of too much new bone. When the breakdown of old bone tissue and/or the production of new bone tissue occurs at abnormal rates, it can make bones more susceptible to fractures with minimal stress.
- Deferred pain from breast cancer that has spread to other areas, like the liver:Breast cancer can also metastasize to the liver, which sits on the right side of your upper abdomen. When this occurs, the liver becomes enlarged and presses on nerves that also affect the right shoulder.
How Long Can You Have Breast Cancer Without Knowing
Breast cancer has to divide 30 times before it can be felt. Up to the 28th cell division, neither you nor your doctor can detect it by hand. With most breast cancers, each division takes one to two months, so by the time you can feel a cancerous lump, the cancer has been in your body for two to five years.
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Causes And Risk Factors
Radiation therapy works by damaging DNA in cells. This damage isnt isolated to cancer cells, though normal cells can be damaged as well. While radiation therapy has improved significantly such that less damage occurs to healthy cells than in the past, some healthy tissues are inevitably exposed.
Several variables can increase or decrease your risk of developing long-term side effects of radiotherapy. Some of these are:
- Your age at the time of radiation
- The dose of radiation you receive
- The number of treatment sessions
- The type of cancer treated
- The area of the body that receives radiation
- Other cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy
- Other health conditions, such as heart disease or diabetes
Weekly Visits During Treatment
Your radiation oncologist and radiation nurse will see you each week to talk with you about any concerns, ask about any side effects you may be having, and answer your questions. This visit will be before or after your treatments each ________________. You should plan on being at your appointment about 1 extra hour on those days.
If you need to speak with your radiation oncologist or radiation nurse any time between your weekly visits, call your radiation oncologists office or ask the support staff or your radiation therapists to contact them when you come in for treatment.
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Are You Having Breast Cancer Pain
Breast pain can be stressful and concerning, especially if you are not sure what is causing it. Breast pain occurs for most people at one point or another. Knowing more about it and when it may signal something serious can help you take an active role in your healthcare.
This article will explain times when breast cancer is painful, what it may be indicating, and whether you are at higher risk for breast disease.
Why Does My Back Hurt When I Have Breast Cancer
When cancer spreads, it can get into the bones and weaken them. Pain in the back could be a sign that a spinal bone has fractured or that the tumor is pressing on the spinal cord. Its important to remember that back pain is a very common condition. Its much more commonly caused by conditions such as: muscle strains.
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Ovarian Cancer Side Effects And Symptoms
Ovarian cancer can be a deadly cancer as its generally hard to detect it early. It is usually detected in later stages when there is no cure for it. In the past, ovarian cancer was called the silent killer because many women didnt experience any signs or symptoms until the disease had spread to other organs.
The symptoms of ovarian cancer are very common and similar to many other illnesses which tend to come and go on their own. Therefore, distinguishing the symptoms of ovarian cancer from other women problems is very difficult, and its easy to overlook the early symptoms of ovarian cancer by women.
While the symptoms of ovarian cancer can be hard to notice and differentiate from other conditions, but ovarian cancer isnt completely silent. Most women feel changes such as bloating, changed in bowel movements, an increased urge to urinate. One of the most common sign of an ovarian cancer is pain. Women usually feel pain in the stomach, side, or in the back.
Some of the early symptoms and warning signs of ovarian cancer may include:
- Pressure and pain in the abdomen
- abnormal bloating and fullness after eating
- difficulty eating
- Increase and more frequent urination
- An increased urge to urinate
Ovarian cancer can also show some other symptoms in the later stages, such as:
- dermatomyositis
Can Breast Milk Cause Cancer
Pregnancy more often during the first trimester. Days following childbirth as milk comes in Breastfeeding Mastitis, which is caused by a milk duct that is not properly draining and becomes infected, should be treated. It has no correlation with cancer, but it can become a serious infection if left untreated. Menopause.
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Statistics On Breast Cancer And Pain
A breast tumora hard clump of breast cancer cellsdoesn’t usually cause breast pain unless it reaches the size of 2 centimeters in diameter or greater. But a tumor can be larger than 2 centimeters and still not cause pain.
For many women, breast pain is not their reporting symptom. One study found that only 6% of women reported breast pain as their main symptom. While most women with breast cancer report that a breast lump was their main symptom, 1 in 6 report a different symptom, including breast pain.