What is Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is a tumor that has become malignant - it has developed from the breast cells. A 'malignant' tumor can spread to other parts of the body - it may also invade surrounding tissue. When it spreads around the body, we call it 'metastasis'. 

A woman's breast consists of lobules. Lobules are milk-producing glands. The breast is also full of ducts - milk passages that connect the lobules to the nipple. There is also fatty and connective tissue surrounding the ducts and lobules - this is called stroma. 

The most common breast cancers start in the cells around the ducts. Others can start in the cells that line the lobules. A smaller number of breast cancers can start in other parts of the breast. 
 

The human body has two ways of moving fluid about. One is through the blood stream, which carries plasma, red and white blood cells and platelets. Lymphatic vessels carry tissue fluid, waste products and infection fighting cells (immune system cells). Immune system cells are located in the lymph nodes - the nodes are shaped like a bean. 

It is common for cancer cells to grow in the lymph nodes. They get there via the lymphatic vessels. 

The lymphatic system of the breasts connect to the lymph nodes in three areas: Under the arm (axillary lymph node), in the chest (internal mammary node) and by the collarbone (supra or infraclavicular node). 

Doctors guess that if cancer cells are in the lymphatic system, they are most likely to be in the bloodstream and will spread to other organs in the body. It is very hard to test for breast cancer cells in the bloodstream. 

If breast cancer cells have got to the nodes under the arm (axillary), it will most likely swell. Whether or not it has swollen there, will decide what type of treatment a patient should have. If cancer cells are found in more lymph nodes, then the likelihood of it turning up in different parts of the body is greater. However, there is no hard and fast rule here. Women have had swellings in many nodes and did not develop metastases, while some women with no swellings in their nodes did. 

Most breast lumps are benign (harmless) 

Although most breast lumps do not develop into anything dangerous (benign) some will need to be biopsied (doctor takes a piece out and tests it). Most lumps are harmless cysts - sacs filled with fluid. 

A benign tumor cannot spread to other parts of the body - it stays inside the breast. They pose no threat to the patient's life. They are not cancer. Some of them, however, can increase the woman's chance of developing breast cancer later on. Tumors such as papillomas and atypical hyperplasia are examples of this. 

How common is breast cancer?

Breast cancer is the most common cancer for women. About one in every nine women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. 99% of all breast cancers are diagnosed in women, 1% affect men. 

In the USA there were 100,000 new cases in 1985. In 1994 the number rose to 180,000. The main reason for the increase is better awareness leading to more diagnostic tests. 

Why do some women get breast cancer?

We don't know the answer to that yet. We know that heredity plays a part. The more close relatives a woman has who had breast cancer, the higher is her risk of developing it. 


More coming up soon... 

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Prostate Cancer

Prostate Cancer

In the vast majority of cases, the prostate cancer starts in the gland cells - this is called adenocarcinoma. In this article, prostate cancer refers just to adenocarcinoma. 

Prostate cancer is mostly a very slow progressing disease. In fact, many men die of old age, without ever knowing they had prostate cancer - it is only when an autopsy is done that doctors know it was there. Several studies have indicated that perhaps about 80% of all men in their eighties had prostate cancer when they died, but nobody knew, not even the doctor. 

Experts say that prostate cancer starts with tiny alterations in the shape and size of the prostate gland cells - Prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN). According to Medilexicon`smedical dictionary, Prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia means "dysplastic changes involving glands and ducts of the prostate that may be a precursor of adenocarcinoma; low grade (PIN 1), mild dysplasia with cell crowding, variation in nuclear size and shape, and irregular cell spacing; high grade (PIN 2 and 3), moderate to severe dysplasia with cell crowding, nucleomegaly and nucleolomegaly, and irregular cell spacing." 

Doctors say that nearly 50% of all 50-year-old men have PIN. The cells are still in place - they do not seem to have moved elsewhere - but the changes can be seen under a microscope. Cancer cells would have moved into other parts of the prostate. Doctors describe these prostate gland cell changes as low-grade or high-grade; high grade is abnormal while low-grade is more-or-less normal. 

 Any patient who was found to have high-grade PIN after a prostate biopsy is at a significantly greater risk of having cancer cells in his prostate. Because of this, doctors will monitor him carefully and possibly carry out another biopsy later on.

Classification of prostate cancer

It is important to know the stage of the cancer, or how far it has spread. Knowing the cancer stage helps the doctor define prognosis - it also helps when selecting which therapies to use. The most common system today for determining this is the TNM (Tumor/Nodes/Metastases). This involves defining the size of the tumor, how many lymph nodes are involved, and whether there are any other metastases. 

When defining with the TNM system, it is crucial to distinguish between cancers that are still restricted just to the prostate, and those that have spread elsewhere. Clinical T1 and T2 cancers are found only in the prostate, and nowhere else, while T3 and T4 have spread outside the prostate. 

There are many ways to find out whether the cancer has spread. Computer tomography will check for spread inside the pelvis, bone scans will decide whether the cancer has spread to the bones, and endorectal coil magnetic resonance imaging will evaluate the prostatic capsule and the seminal vesicles.

The Gleason Score

A pathologist will look at the biopsy samples under a microscope. If cancer tissue is detected, the pathologist then grades the tumor. The Gleason System of grading goes from 2 to 10. The higher the number, the more abnormal the tissues are compared to normal prostate tissue. 

Two numbers are added up to get a Gleason score:

1. A number from 1 to 5 for the most common pattern observed under the microscope. This is the predominant grade and must be more than 51% of the sample.

2. A number from 1 to 5 for the second most common pattern. This is the secondary grade and must make up more than 5% but less than 50% of the sample.

A Gleason score of 7 can have two meanings. Look at these two examples below:

1. If the predominant grade is 3 and the secondary grade is 4, the Gleason score is 7.

2. If the predominant grade is 4 and the secondary grade is 3, the Gleason score is also 7.

However, the first example, with a predominant score of 3, has a less aggressive cancer than the second example, with a predominant score of 4. 

It is crucial that the tumor is graded properly, as this decides what treatments should be recommended.

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What is Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is a disease which only affects men. Cancer begins to grow in the prostate - a gland in the male reproductive system. The word "prostate" comes from Medieval Latin prostate and Medieval French prostate. The ancient Greek word prostates means "one standing in front", from proistanai meaning "set before". The prostate is so called because of its position - it is at the base of the bladder.

What is the prostate?

The prostate is an exocrine gland of the male reproductive system, and exists directly under the bladder, in front of the rectum. An exocrine gland is one whose secretions end up outside the body e.g. prostate gland and sweat glands. It is approximately the size of a walnut. 

The urethra - a tube that goes from the bladder to the end of the penis and carries urine and semen out of the body - goes through the prostate. 

There are thousands of tiny glands in the prostate - they all produce a fluid that forms part of the semen. This fluid also protects and nourishes the sperm. When a male has an orgasm the seminal-vesicles secrete a milky liquid in which the semen travels. The liquid is produced in the prostate gland, while the sperm is kept and produced in the testicles. When a male climaxes (has an orgasm) contractions force the prostate to secrete this fluid into the urethra and leave the body through the penis.

Urine control

As the urethra goes through the prostate: the prostate gland is also involved in urine control (continence) with the use of prostate muscle fibers. These muscle fibers in the prostate contract and release, controlling the flow of urine flowing through the urethra.

The Prostate Produces Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) 

The epithelial cells in the prostate gland produce a protein called PSA (prostate-specific antigen). The PSA helps keep the semen in its liquid state. Some of the PSA escapes into the bloodstream. We can measure a man's PSA levels by checking his blood. If a man's levels of PSA are high, it might be an indication of either prostate cancer or some kind of prostate condition. It is a myth to think that a high blood-PSA level is harmful to you - it is not. High blood PSA levels are however an indication that something may be wrong in the prostate. 

Male hormones affect the growth of the prostate, and also how much PSA the prostate produces. Medications aimed at altering male hormone levels may affect PSA blood levels. If male hormones are low during a male's growth and during his adulthood, his prostate gland will not grow to full size. 

In some older men the prostate may continue to grow, especially the part that is around the urethra. This can make it more difficult for the man to pass urine as the growing prostate gland may be causing the urethra to collapse. When the prostate gland becomes too big in this way, the condition is called Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). BPH is not cancer, but must be treated.

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Fitness Fights It

Exercise is the best-kept secret in preventive medicine. Despite our other differences, we all need to exercise for health. Regular exercise provides essential protection against many of the diseases that plague our world. The list includes:

• heart attack
• stroke
• high blood pressure
• diabetes
• obesity
• osteoporosis and fractures
• depression
• COLON AND BREAST CANCERS
• dementia (memory loss)

What does it take to get these benefits? Less than you might think. The key is what exercise scientists call isotonic exercise—activities that use your large muscle groups in a rhythmic, repetitive fashion without making your muscles work against heavy resistance. It used to be called "aerobic" exercise because we thought it had to be intense enough to boost your heart rate into the aerobic range (70% to 85% of your maximum heart rate).  In fact, you can get all the health benefits you need from moderate exercise that won't make you huff and puff, even if you do it in little chunks—as long as it adds up to enough total activity and its also done regularly.

Mix daily activities, formal workouts, and sports play to get the cardiometabolic exercise you need for health. And for best results, do some stretching nearly every day and some strength training two or three times a week. The older we get, the more we need these supplementary activities.

KA-CHING!!!!!! ;-)