Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The purpose is to help increase awareness of breast cancer and help with early detection. Breast cancer is the second-most common type of cancer in women (although men can get breast cancer, also).

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2022, we’re going to discuss the symptoms, causes, different stages, and different kinds of breast cancer. Then, we’ll talk more specifically about Breast Cancer Awareness Month and how you can get involved.

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Breast Cancer Symptoms

The most obvious symptom of breast cancer is a lump in the breast. However, there are other symptoms, including:

Dimpling of the breast skin
Change in the shape, size, or appearance of a breast
Newly inverted nipple
A thickened area that feels different from surrounding tissue
Peeling, crusting, scaling, or flaking of the pigmented area of skin surrounding the nipple (areola) or breast skin
Pitting or redness on the skin of the breast (like an orange peel)

Different Kinds of Breast Cancer

“Breast cancer” isn’t one specific type of cancer. Rather, it’s any number of cancer types that can occur in breast tissue. The different kinds of breast cancer include:

Angiosarcoma
Inflammatory breast cancer
Lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS)
Paget’s disease of the breast
Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS)
Invasive lobular carcinoma
Male breast cancer
Recurrent breast cancer

Causes of Breast Cancer

While there are some factors that increase a person’s risk of developing breast cancer, few specific causes have been identified. There are genetic, lifestyle, hormonal, and environmental factors that may cause breast cancer.

One known cause of breast cancer is a genetic factor. Around 5 to 10 of breast cancers are inherited through the family via two genes. These genes are breast cancer gene 1 (BRCA1) and breast cancer gene 2 (BRCA2).

Breast Cancer Risk Factors

There are many things that may increase a person’s chance of developing breast cancer. Some of those risk factors include:

Being female
Drinking alcohol
Obesity
Radiation exposure
Family history of breast cancer
Increasing age
Never having been pregnant
Having your first child after 30
History of breast conditions
Postmenopausal hormone therapy
Starting your period before age 12
Beginning menopause at an older age

Different Stages of Breast Cancer

There are 5 different stages of breast cancer. They range from stage 0, which is noninvasive, to stage IV, which has spread to other parts of the body.

After a breast cancer diagnosis, many tests will be done to determine your stage. Your breast cancer stage may affect what types of treatment you need.

Breast Cancer Treatment

There are many different types of treatments for breast cancer. Treatment varies depending on type and stage. The most common treatments include:

Radiation therapy
Chemotherapy
Hormone therapy
Targeted therapy drugs
Immunotherapy
Supportive (palliative) care

There are a wide variety of surgeries that may be performed, including:

Lumpectomy – Removing cancer from the breast
Mastectomy – Removing the entirety of the breast
Axillary lymph node dissection – Removing additional lymph nodes
Sentinel node biopsy – Removing and testing a few lymph nodes