SERMs work by “starving” cancer cells by preventing estrogen from reaching and feeding the cancer cells, since breast cancer cells are dependent on estrogen to reproduce. The most prescribed SERM is Tamoxifen.

Aromatose inhibitors work by preventing the production of estrogen, also starving the cancer cells. This is useful when patients become resistant to a SERM.

Biologic response modifiers prevent the growth of breast cancer cells.

Other hormonal therapies include those that destroy estrogen receptors in cancer cells, and those that blocks the release of hormone in the body.

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Doctors suggest that every woman should undergo this process whether you’re ill or not. So how is this screening process done?

Screening for breast cancer before there are symptoms can be important. Screening can help doctors find and treat cancer early. Treatment is more likely to work well when cancer is found early.

Your doctor may suggest the following screening tests for breast cancer:

• Screening mammogram
• Clinical breast exam
• Breast self-exam

You should ask your doctor about when to start and how often to check for breast cancer.

Topic source here.

Stereoscopic digital mammography consists of two digital x-ray images of the breast acquired from two different points of view separated by about eight degrees. When the images are viewed on a stereo display workstation, the radiologist is able to see the internal structure of the breast in three dimensions. In the ongoing clinical trial, researchers use a full-field digital mammography unit modified to take stereo pairs of images. The workstation enables the mammographer to fuse the stereo image pair and to view the breast in depth.

In the study, stereo mammography reduced false positives by 49%. This huge drop in percentage has strong implications with regard to needless cost in time and money.

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Women who suffer from breast cancer sometimes ask how did it happen to me? Here’s the explanation shared by Medicine Net:

Cancer begins in cells, the building blocks that make up tissues. Tissues make up the organs of the body. Normally, cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old, they die, and new cells take their place. Sometimes, this orderly process goes wrong. New cells form when the body does not need them, and old cells do not die when they should. These extra cells can form a mass of tissue called a growth or tumor. When breast cancer cells spread, the cancer cells are often found in lymph nodes near the breast. Also, breast cancer can spread to almost any other part of the body. The most common are the bones, liver, lungs, and brain. The new tumor has the same kind of abnormal cells and the same name as the primary tumor. For example, if breast cancer spreads to the bones, the cancer cells in the bones are actually breast cancer cells. The disease is metastatic breast cancer, not bone cancer. For that reason, it is treated as breast cancer, not bone cancer. Doctors call the new tumor “distant” or metastatic disease.

The rate of recurrence after five years for the women who was put on a low-fat diet was 9.8%, while the rate for those ate a standard diet was 12.4%.

The most significant risk reduction — 42 percent — was with women on the low-fat diet whose tumors did not respond to the presence of the hormone estrogen (also called estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer). Women whose tumors did respond to estrogen saw a 15 percent reduction.

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Step 1: Look at your breasts in the mirror with your shoulders straight and your arms on your hips. If you see any of the following changes, bring them to your doctor’s attention:

* dimpling, puckering, or bulging of the skin
* a nipple that has changed position or an inverted nipple (pushed inward instead of sticking out)
* redness, soreness, rash, or swelling

Step 2: Now, raise your arms and look for the same changes.

Step 3: While you’re at the mirror, gently squeeze each nipple between your finger and thumb and check for nipple discharge (this could be a milky or yellow fluid or blood).

Step 4: Next, feel your breasts while lying down, using your right hand to feel your left breast and then your left hand to feel your right breast. Use a firm, smooth touch with the first few fingers of your hand, keeping the fingers flat and together.

Cover the entire breast from top to bottom, side to side?from your collarbone to the top of your abdomen, and from your armpit to your cleavage.

Follow a pattern to be sure that you cover the whole breast. You can begin at the nipple, moving in larger and larger circles until you reach the outer edge of the breast. You can also move your fingers up and down vertically, in rows, as if you were mowing a lawn. Be sure to feel all the breast tissue: just beneath your skin with a soft touch and down deeper with a firmer touch. Begin examining each area with a very soft touch, and then increase pressure so that you can feel the deeper tissue, down to your ribcage.

Step 5: Finally, feel your breasts while you are standing or sitting. Many women find that the easiest way to feel their breasts is when their skin is wet and slippery, so they like to do this step in the shower. Cover your entire breast, using the same hand movements described in Step 4.

Steps and photos taken from Breastcancer.org.

A lot of breast cancer patients never had children. Having children at a younger age, having more children and breastfeeding have been associated with lower risk of having breast cancer. “What is not used gets damaged” is a common belief, and that belief has extended to cancer risk.

Other more practical ways to prevent breast cancer (as having children is not always an option) is a healthy lifestyle coupled with regular exercise. Taking plant-based estrogen foods like soy products does not cause or worsen breast cancer. Avoiding second hand smoke will save you from a lot of other cancers as well. The most important is regular physical check up that includes procedures for detecting breast cancer like mammography, for early detection.

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Do not take unusual pain, sensations and other symptoms lightly. You can never be so sure these days. Even if no one in your family has had cancer, do not cross out the possibility that you may have developed it.

Blood in the urine, recurrent abdominal pains, lumps in the breast and other body parts should be checked by doctors – not just once, but ask for second opinions to assure all avenues are pursued. Do not be contented with just one answer – ask for detailed explanations of why you are experiencing pain, or why lumps are present. Initiate and demand for an observation. If the symptoms still persist after a few weeks, seek other tests such as CT scan or MRI(which should be recommended by your doctor/physician of course).

Read this article and learn from the experience of a misdiagnosed patient.