Preventative Services and Drug Treatment for Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer

ETIOLOGY AND PREVENTION OF BREAST CANCER

Breast cancer is the type of cancer that has been chosen for the assignment. Breast cancer is a cancer type that attacks the tissues in the breast of women. This cancer characterized by the presence of a lump inside the breast tissues, notable changes in the shape of the breast, the formation of dimples in the skin surrounding the breast, among others. The breast is made up of some tissues called lobules. These tissues play a significant role in milk production together with other tubes called ducts carrying milk from the lobules to the nipples. The common type of cancer that attacks the tissues is ductal cancer. Ductal cancer attacks the cells of the ducts and spreads throughout the other parts of the breast (Winchester, 2006).

Available Preventive Services

Breast cancer can be prevented through some weights. These factors include maintenance of the body weight, not using alcohol of using very limited amounts, physical activity, breastfeeding the children, among others. These modifications have the capacity to reduce breast occurrence by up to 38% in the United States of America alone. Regular exercises reduce the chances of attracting obesity, which perpetuates cancer occurrence. The other common preventive measure involves the removal of both of the breasts before the diagnosis of any cancer among people with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations since they are susceptible to breast cancer. Medication has been another option for preventing cancer, although it has been disputed as increasing the occurrence of other side effects that are dangerous to the body. For instance, the use of the selective estrogen receptor modulators is known to be one of the preventive measures for preventing the occurrence of breast cancer. Nonetheless, the use of these drugs makes the body susceptible to the risks of thromboembolism together with endometrial cancer in the victim (Winchester, 2006).

Effect of Genetics and Gender

Breast cancer is a condition occurring majorly in women but can also affect men. Men are not affected by breast cancer as women since they have fewer breast tissues responsible for milk production in them. When compared to women, men are one hundred times less likely to develop breast cancer as does with women. All women are at risk of being affected by breast cancer. Therefore, they must all participate in the preventive measures as outlined above. These preventive measures are common among many women, and thus there will be no issue with them as regards prevention of cancer. Genetics in a factor that is known to influence cancer presence in individuals. As people get old, they become more susceptible to developing breast cancer. With genes, breast cancer is thought to be hereditary. Close to 5% to10% of the cases of cancer are influenced by the genetic configurations. These types of breast cancer are influenced and caused by defects in the gene, referred to as mutations, which are passed from the parent to the child. In such cases, the preventive measures become very necessary to alleviate the certain occurrence of the disease at an early age of life (Winchester, 2006). In fact, susceptibility to being attacked by hereditary breast cancer does not mean that it will/must occur. The preventives measures adopted have the capacity to control the development of hereditary breast cancer fully. The causal organism of the hereditary breast cancer is the inheritance of a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene (Grobstein, 2005).