Prostate and Breast Cancer

Cancer and Women’s and Men’s Health
Breast cancer and prostate cancer are two types of cancer that can be affected by geneticsr and behavior (Kaminska, Ciszewski, Lopacka-Szatan, Miotla & Staroslawska, 2015).
Cancer is a disease that occurs when abnormal cells in the body begin to divide uncontrollably. Cancer can start in one part of the body and spread to another. Cancer can be malignant or benign—that is, potentially fatal or not potentially fatal. Breast cancer occurs when cells in the breast begin to divide uncontrollably. The beginning stage of this type of cancer is typically the formation of a tumor that can be felt during a breast examination as a small lump in the breast. An x-ray can also be conducted to see whether there is a tumor in the breast. A malignant tumor in the breast will grow and spread to other parts of the body or invade the surrounding tissue. Breast cancer is mainly a danger to women though in some cases men too have developed breast cancer—but this is very rare.
Breast cancer can start in different parts of the breast for different people; however, most cancer in the breast begins to form in the milk ducts—which is known as ductal cancer (American Cancer Society, 2017). Other times cancer can begin in the glands that produce the milk and this is known as lobular cancer. These are the most common forms of breast cancer but sometimes cancers begin in breast tissue: these are known as sarcomas and lymphomas and they are not classified as breast cancers because of the type of tissue involved in the cancer formation.
Risk factors for breast cancer are intrinsic (or inherent) and extrinsic. Intrinsic risk factors include: age, race, sex, genetics (familial occurrence). These are viewed as independent variables that are not impacted by one’s life decisions or choices. They are inherent in the person’s body make-up and cannot be altered. Extrinsic factors are those which can be altered by one’s life choices. These include: lifestyle, diet, medical history (whether long-term medical intervention has been a staple of one’s life and what sort of impact it has had on the body), and whether hormonal contraceptives or hormonal replacement therapy has been used (Kaminska et al., 2015). Steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of breast cancer include eating a healthy, all-natural organic diet and avoiding foods that are pre-packaged or manufactured. Lifestyles should include exercise and women should abstain from smoking and/or drug usage. Drug treatment is usually limited to hormonal therapy such as medicines like tamoxifen such as Nolvadex and Soltamoxor. Additional behaviors that might impact this type of cancer are the use of contraceptives may, which may be avoided as well as hormonal therapy that is not part of treatment, which can impact a woman’s body in negative ways. These are behaviors that can impact the cause of cancer, and gender is a main factor because this type of cancer primarily occurs in women just as prostate cancer primarily occurs in men. Short term implications of treatment for breast cancer are weakness and nausea; long term implications could be loss of breast if surgery is required.
To help fight against the spread of breast cancer, early check-ups are recommended, screenings should be conducted regularly as advised by a doctor, and lifestyles that are unhealthy should be avoided by women. Diet is very important when it comes to the health of the body and should be considered very carefully by women throughout their lifetimes.
For prostate cancer genetics can be a factor but it is unknown to what extent. The genetic basis for prostate cancer phenotype is unknown. Changes in BRCA1, BRCA2 and HOXB13 genes have been identified but their contribution to tumor growth remains uncertain. Some studies indicate that prostate tumor growth is related to a combination of factors that are genetic and environmental. The genetic mutations that occur in prostate cancer are related to the somatic mutations found in prostate cancer cells relating to the proteins produced by BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which assist in regulating and fixing damaged DNA. Without these proteins, the stability of the cell is endangered. This is primarily the connection between genetic mutation, abnormal protein production and prostate cancer (Dago et al., 2014).
Drugs that can be used to treat prostate cancer are similar to those used to treat breast cancer in that it is focused on hormone therapy: “Drugs typically used in this type of hormone therapy include leuprolide (Lupron, Eligard), goserelin (Zoladex), triptorelin (Trelstar) and histrelin (Vantas). Other drugs sometimes used include ketoconazole and abiraterone (Zytiga)” (Mayo Clinic, 2018). Short term effects are weakness, and this may be the only symptom that the individual suffers, though there may be some urinary tract issues as well as, and nocturnal urinary issues that require frequent urination through the night; plus erectile dysfunction—however, the tumor itself may not require treatment if it is not growing at a considerable rate or is not too uncomfortable for the individual. Long term effects are erectile dysfunction which can occur if surgery is needed to remove the prostate tumor.


References
American Cancer Society. (2017). What is Breast Cancer? Retrieved from
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/breast-cancer/about/what-is-breast-cancer.html
Dago, A. E., Stepansky, A., Carlsson, A., Luttgen, M., Kendall, J., Baslan, T., ... &
Hicks, J. (2014). Rapid phenotypic and genomic change in response to therapeutic pressure in prostate cancer inferred by high content analysis of single circulating tumor cells. PloS One, 9(8), e101777.
Kaminska, M., Ciszewski, T., Lopacka-Szatan, K., Miotla, P., Staroslawska, E. (2015).
Breast cancer risk factors. Menopause Review, 14(3): 196-202.
Mayo Clinic. (2018). Prostate cancer. Retrieved from
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/prostate-cancer/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20353093