Causes of Breast Cancer - Essay Example

DNA mutations tend to be inherited but most occur due to other reasons. Estrogen is the hormone that supports breast cancer to grow rapidly, but what causes breast cancer, is still a debate. However, hormones do play a big role in the growth of breast cancer. Studies have shown that the breast cancer rate is high in those people whose fat intake is very high. There can be some environmental causes too such as “women who received radiation therapy to the upper body for treatment of Hodgkin disease before 30 years of age have a significantly higher rate of breast cancer than the general population” (WebMD Inc., 2009).

Risk Factors
Some risk factors are not in the control of an individual while there are others that one can control. The former includes the following:
1) Genes can be defective in some individuals. Genes that are more prone to cancer are BRCA1 and BRCA2. Naturally, these are “tumor suppressor genes” (American Cancer Society, 2009) because they produce proteins that hinder the growth of cancerous cells, but when they get mutated, they cause the development of cancer. Thus, if a person inherits defective genes from his parents, he is more likely to develop breast cancer. Also, if one has a relative who has cancer of any sort, even then he may be prone to this disease.
2) Growing age is also a risk factor. Older individuals are more prone to this disease. 3) Gender also matters, that is, women have more risk of developing this disease than men. Plant (2000) states that one out of nine women in the United States will develop breast cancer in her lifetime.
4) Race is a risk factor as white women are more likely to get the disease than black women.
5) Women who, in their breasts, have more glandular tissues are more at the risk.
6) Women who started their menstruation at a very early age or had their menopause at a very later age tend to have more risk of breast cancer.
6) A woman who has a previous history of breast cancer is more likely to go through second cancer in the other breast or a part of the same breast.
The risk factors that one can control include the following:
1) Late pregnancy or no pregnancy at all increases the risk of breast cancer.
2) Alcohol intake and smoking if in large quantity, is other risk factor.
3) Corpulence or obesity also plays a role in the development of breast cancer as fat women tend to produce a larger quantity of estrogen hormone which, as stated above, increases the risk of breast cancer.
4) Diethylstilbestrol (DES), when given to a woman to reduce the chances of miscarriage, is also thought to be a risk factor.
5) Women who choose the option of not breastfeeding their babies are at greater risk than those who breastfeed.
6) Birth control pills are also found to increase the risk of breast cancer to some extent. 7) Lack of exercise is also a big risk factor as properly scheduled exercise hinders the growth of breast cancer. According to Slowick (2009), “a woman's exposure to estrogen is lowered by exercise, which affects the menstrual cycle and can inhibit ovulation”. The more a woman ovulates, the greater the risk of breast cancer.
Signs and Symptoms
Breast cancer, which is in the very early stage, has no symptoms as it is not painful at this stage. However, breast cancer can be caught if any of the following symptoms are seen:
if there is a lump called a breast lump felt in the breast, armpit, or somewhere around the collarbone
if some kind of bloody or pus-like discharge from the breast is noticed
if there is some change detected in the breast skin such as redness or skin ulcers
if there is some change in the size and shape of the breast
if nipple inversion takes place which the individual has never gone through before
if the breast swells and aches severely
if sudden weight loss is noticed

These symptoms are further followed by a persistent cough, diarrhea, urine changes, unusual vaginal bleeding, lumps in testicles (in the case of men), anemia, etcetera. Read More