Hi guys, today I want to talk to you all about cancer and its
increasing danger to womanhood.
Cancer is an abnormal or malignant growth originating in any of the
epithelial tissues of the body and is characterized
by invasion and rapid
spread to other parts of the body. According to the oxford advanced Learners
Dictionary of Current English, it is a serious disease in which growths of the
cells, form in the body and kill normal body cells. It affects women between
the ages of 15– 50 years.
The organs commonly affected in order
of frequencies are as the Breast, Cervix, Uterine, Ovaries, Vulva, Vagina.
According to
W.H.O estimates, breast, Cervical, Ovarian and endometrial Cancers are
responsible for the death of more than 700,000 women annually. For starters, let us talk about breast cancer.
Breast
Cancer is an uncontrolled growth of breast cells. It is a tumor in the cells of
the breast, which increases abnormally and invade the surrounding tissues. Therefore they gain access to lymph
nodes and blood vessels, which carry them to other areas in the body. Breast Cancer accounts for about 9% of all
Cancers and is noted as the most common Cancer affecting women in the world. It
has also been reported as the most malignancy affecting Nigerian women
(Adebamowo and Ajayi, 2002). More reports have indicated an improvement in the
previous five year survival rate of 50% for all patients diagnosed with breast
Cancer to 87.9% (Seer, 2008). This is attributed to improved knowledge about
prevention early detection and availability of various treatment options
(Dickson, 2000). Despite the treatment, breast cancer continues to be one of
the most feared of all disease-affecting women. It is the commonest and the
worst malignant growth and the leading cause of death from cancer in
women. It causes death 3 times more
frequently than cancer of the cervix.
Breast cancer accounts for about 9% of all cancers and is rated as the
commonest cancer affecting women in the world. Globally more than one million
new cases of breast cancer are diagnoses yearly – this accounts for about 1/5th
of the estimated female annual cancer diagnosis (Bray et al, 2004). United
States – It is the second most common type of cancer and
the second leading cause of cancer related deaths from 1 in 20 in 1960 to 1 in
8 in 2006. UK – Breast cancer accounts for 30% of all female cancers and it is
predicted that 1 in 90 women will get the disorder sometimes during their life.
Australia
– Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer.
Africa – Breast cancer is ranked the second most frequent to
cervical cancer with a double rise in Nigeria (Papkin el al, 2003). Nigeria –
It is the most common malignancy affecting women in Nigeria, the overall
incidence of breast cancer in Nigeria is about 15:3/100,000 women while it
constitutes the commonest cause of malignancy in females in Ibadan (Adebamowo
and Ajayi 2002). It is ranked the second
commonest cause malignancy in Zaria (Rafinedy 1998). Botswana – It is third
most common cancer after cancer of the uterus and Kaposi sarcoma (Von Paleske
2005). Breast cancer like all cancers initially develop due to defects in the
genetic material, De-oxyricyribonucleic Acid (DNA) of a single cell.
Research has shown that 5 – 10% of breast cancers are associated
with mutation (defects) in two genes BRCA 1 and BRCA 2. (Breast Cancer Associated) genes. These genes
function normally to prevent abnormal cell growth that could lead to cancer,
but when there are mutations of these genes, they become cancerous. the exact
cause of breast cancer is unknown, but there are some risk/predisposing factors
such as;
-
Gender – 100 times more in women than
men, that is to say being a woman, this is due to the presence of oestrogen and
progesterone.
The underlsted factors interact with exposure to
these hormones.
-
Age – incidence is increased with age
and doubles every 10 years until Menopause when the rate of increase
shows. Approximately, a 1/4
of Breast cancer affect women
under the age of 50, ½ occur between ages 50 – 69 and the remaining ¼ develop
in women who are 70 years or older (nct 2005).
-
Heredity – breast cancer may be
inherited and this is due to Genetic mutations.
The common genes are brca – 1 and brca – 2.
- Previous breast disease or previous breast
lump may increase the risk. The tissues
removed shows hyperplasia even through Benign and this leads to four-fold
increase in her risk of developing breast cancer during her life time.
-
Radiation – Women who received
radiation to the chest as a result of repeated Xrays or those women who were
Xrayed between ages of 10 and 14 years.
Radiation is said to damage DNA.
-
Family History – History of mother or
sister or both had breast cancer may increase risk. About 15% of breast cancer patients report
family history of the disease.
-
Reproductive
Factor – Prolonged exposure to ovarian hormones
increase breast cancer occurrence eg. Multiparious
women, late
parity, The highest risk group are those who have
their first child
after the age of 35.
-
Menstrual
and reproductive history - During menstrual cycle, the fluctuating hormone
levels cause several charges within the breast tissue. This enhances cell
proliferation, facilitate mutation.(defects in DNA). Women who have early
menarche (before age of 12) or late menopause after 55 years are twice
as likely to develop breast cancer.
-
Hormones
– hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) at menopause is associated with breast cancer
use of contraceptives pills increase risk.
Women who started taking the pill before age of 20 appears to have a
higher risk than those who commenced at an older age (Dickson, 2006) eg.
Combined Oral Pills (COP).
-
Diet
– High fat diet is believed to favour cancer of the breast.
-
Life style –
Cigarette smoking is associated with breast cancer and also intake of caffeine. Also the risk increases with the quantity of
alcohol consumed (Hamajima et al 2002).
There is small increased risk with moderate alcohol consumption.
-
Previous
history of abortion or miscarriage.
