Report Essay on Breast Cancer
Cancer is one of the most well known diseases in the world. Millions of people die from cancer alone. There are over 200 types of cancer and there are over 60 different organs in the body where a cancer can develop. (Cancer Research) Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers and is the second leading cause of cancer death in women. Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that starts from cells of the breast. Many treatments have been used to help care for breast cancer.
Chemotherapy (chemo) is one of the most well known treatments for breast cancer. Chemo is a series of treatments given in cycles to allow patients to be able to recover from the harsh chemicals that are injected into one of the patient’s veins or in their mouth. Common side effects to chemotherapy are hair loss, mouth sores, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, easy to bruise or bleed, and fatigue. These side effects are short term and will go away after treatment is finished. When hair is lost, it usually grows back differently than the way it was before it was lost. For example, if a patient was to have long straight black hair and then lose their hair due to chemotherapy, the patient’s hair will grow back with a different hair color. It could start to grow back red, blonde, brown, curly, straight, and wavy for example.
Another form of treatment is radiation therapy. The most common form of radiation is the process by which high-energy rays are sent throughout the body. It is similar to an x-ray. There is a long dome like machine and the patient lies on a table. This process does not hurt and usually patients have to have this treatment 5 days a week for 5 weeks. Radiation is very hard on a persons’ body. Some effects to radiation are the same as what people go through with chemotherapy. Usually chemo and radiation are given together, which really hits hard on a persons’ body. It makes the person really weak and not able to do much.
Surgically removing part, all, or both of the breasts is another form of treatment. A mastectomy is removal of part or the entire breast. Some people,
depending on where there cancer is, have double mastectomies. This is sometimes very hard for women especially because they feel as though they have lost their femininity. Part of the recovery process that doctors and nurses help women especially deal with their issues. They insure the
breast cancer patient that because of this surgery the cancer is gone and this will help to better them. Some patients would rather have this surgery if their cancer is very bad and also because radiation and chemo makes a person’s body feel so tired and worn out all the time.
These treatments chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery are treatments that breast cancer patients go through. There are many survivors of
breast cancer and all cancers because of treatment, persistence to go to through therapy, and most importantly support from family members to help patients through this difficult time in their life.
Reference:
American Cancer Society. (n.d.). Retrieved September 26, 2011, from http://www.cancer.org/index
Breast Cancer.org (n.d.). Retrieved September 26, 2011, from http://www.breastcancer.org
Cancer Research UK. (n.d.). Retrieved September 26, 2011, from
(http://cancerhelp.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-questions/how-many-different-types-of-cancer-are-there
Prospective identifications of tumorigenic breast cancer cells. (n.d.). Retrieved September 26,
2011, from http://www.pnas.org/content/100/7/3983.short
Chemotherapy (chemo) is one of the most well known treatments for breast cancer. Chemo is a series of treatments given in cycles to allow patients to be able to recover from the harsh chemicals that are injected into one of the patient’s veins or in their mouth. Common side effects to chemotherapy are hair loss, mouth sores, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, easy to bruise or bleed, and fatigue. These side effects are short term and will go away after treatment is finished. When hair is lost, it usually grows back differently than the way it was before it was lost. For example, if a patient was to have long straight black hair and then lose their hair due to chemotherapy, the patient’s hair will grow back with a different hair color. It could start to grow back red, blonde, brown, curly, straight, and wavy for example.
Another form of treatment is radiation therapy. The most common form of radiation is the process by which high-energy rays are sent throughout the body. It is similar to an x-ray. There is a long dome like machine and the patient lies on a table. This process does not hurt and usually patients have to have this treatment 5 days a week for 5 weeks. Radiation is very hard on a persons’ body. Some effects to radiation are the same as what people go through with chemotherapy. Usually chemo and radiation are given together, which really hits hard on a persons’ body. It makes the person really weak and not able to do much.
Surgically removing part, all, or both of the breasts is another form of treatment. A mastectomy is removal of part or the entire breast. Some people,
depending on where there cancer is, have double mastectomies. This is sometimes very hard for women especially because they feel as though they have lost their femininity. Part of the recovery process that doctors and nurses help women especially deal with their issues. They insure the
breast cancer patient that because of this surgery the cancer is gone and this will help to better them. Some patients would rather have this surgery if their cancer is very bad and also because radiation and chemo makes a person’s body feel so tired and worn out all the time.
These treatments chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery are treatments that breast cancer patients go through. There are many survivors of
breast cancer and all cancers because of treatment, persistence to go to through therapy, and most importantly support from family members to help patients through this difficult time in their life.
Reference:
American Cancer Society. (n.d.). Retrieved September 26, 2011, from http://www.cancer.org/index
Breast Cancer.org (n.d.). Retrieved September 26, 2011, from http://www.breastcancer.org
Cancer Research UK. (n.d.). Retrieved September 26, 2011, from
(http://cancerhelp.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-questions/how-many-different-types-of-cancer-are-there
Prospective identifications of tumorigenic breast cancer cells. (n.d.). Retrieved September 26,
2011, from http://www.pnas.org/content/100/7/3983.short