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Breast cancer screening is performed on any woman regardless of whether she has any of the symptoms of breast cancer if she and her doctor feel the need for it. Screening has become a popular practice among doctors and patients alike because if a mass of cells is found early, breast cancer is a completely survivable disease. The test used to screen a patient are self exams, genetic screening, mammograms, ultrasounds and MRIs.
During a self exam, the woman looks for lumps or unusual changes in the tissue. Unfortunately, once the lump has been noticed is has alreay grown very large. Mammograms have been the standard test for breast cancer for many years but recently they too have come under fire because of the number of unneccessary surgeries and worries the patient must endure. Nevertheless, mammograms are recommended for women who have at least one risk factor for the disease.
When cancer is found, the initial treatment is almost always surgery to remove the mass. Once the existing cancer is removed, surgery is followed up by chemotherapy and radiation. The treatment is slightly different for each of the stages of cancer, and occassionally a woman’s individual circumstances will determine another course of action.
There are three groups of medications available after the surgery: Monoclonal antibodies, chemotherapy and hormone blocking therapy. One or all of these can be used. Monoclonal antibodies cause cells to stop growing. Many patients tolerate this medication better than chemotherapy but it can cause heart trouble in some patients. Chemotherapy kills the DNA in cancer cells but it also destroys the DNA in all of the other cells in the body. Hormone blocking therapy works because it blocks the estrogen that some cancer cells require to grow. Since not all breast cancers are hormone-related, this medication does not work for all patients.
The doctor will recommend a treatment according to how he believes the cancer can be cured, but it is always up to the patient to decide which of the medications and treatments they will use.