Home
Defend Yourself Against Breast Cancer
Detecting Breast Cancer Earlier with MRI
Mother – Daughter Symposium
Preventing Sudden Cardiac Arrest
"Ask the Doctor"
Free Seminar
Stroke:
Know the Warning Signs
Calendar of Educational
and Community Events
for Winter 2008
Reputation Matters
 |
Ata Ahmad, MD
General Surgeon
One in seven women will develop breast cancer
over her lifetime, according to the American
Cancer Society. Only skin cancer affects more
female victims.
Risks
- Gender – Breast cancer is 100 times more common in
women than in men.
- Age – Eighty percent of breast cancer cases affect
women over 50.
- Family history – Having a blood relative with the disease
elevates the risk.
- Personal history – Individuals who have had breast
cancer once stand a much higher chance of getting a
new cancer later. Also, those whose menstrual periods
began before age 12 or ended after 55 have an
elevated risk.
Search for Symptoms
In addition to making lifestyle choices that limit your
risk of developing breast cancer, such as maintaining a
healthful weight, exercising regularly and avoiding
alcohol, getting regular screenings can help detect breast
cancer early, when it is most treatable. "I encourage all of
my female patients to consult a physician for an evaluation
if they find a lump in their breast regardless of how
insignificant they may think it is," says Ata Ahmad, MD,
a general surgeon at Methodist Willowbrook Hospital.
Performing self breast exams and being aware of changes
in your breasts, such as those listed below, can help catch
warning signs a mammogram
could miss.
- Lump or mass in the breast or underarm area
- Swelling of part of the breast
- Skin irritation or dimpling
- Nipple pain or discharge
- Inverted nipple
- Scaliness or redness of nipple or breast skin
Diagnosing Breast cancer
The following tests and procedures may be used to
diagnose breast cancer.
- Mammogram – An X-ray of the breast.
- Ultrasound – High frequency sound waves used to
evaluate the breast tissue.
- Biopsy – Removal of cells from the body, which are
then viewed under a microscope. You can either have
a surgical biopsy or a needle biopsy. The two types of
surgical biopsies are incisional or excisional. Needle
biopsies are less invasive and entail the removal of part
of the lump or suspicious tissue using a thin needle.
A core biopsy removes multiple pieces of the lump or
suspicious tissue using a wider needle.
- MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) – Produces detailed
images of the breast tissue, identifying abnormalities that
might be missed in other procedures.
Treatment Options
- Surgery – This is a primary option for patients with
breast cancer. Surgery allows the physician to remove
the cancer from the breast. A lumpectomy removes the
tumor with a small amount of normal tissue around the
cancer. A mastectomy involves removing the part of the
breast that has cancer or the entire breast.
- Radiation – High-energy X-rays are used to destroy the
cancer cells.
- Chemotherapy – Drugs are used to stop the growth
of cancer cells, either by killing the cancer cells or by
stopping them from dividing. Chemotherapy travels
around the body in the blood stream,
attacking cells.
- Hormone therapy – Removes hormones or blocks their
action and stops cancer cells from growing.
|
