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What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer is a cancer that starts in breast tissue. It happens when cells in the breast change and grow out of control. The cells usually form a tumor.

Sometimes the cancer does not spread any further. This is called "in situ." If the cancer spreads outside the breast, the cancer is called "invasive." It may just spread to nearby tissues and lymph nodes. Or the cancer may metastasize (spread to other parts of the body) through the lymph system or the blood.

Breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer in women in the United States. Rarely, it can also affect men.

What are the types of breast cancer?

There are different types of breast cancer. The types are based on which breast cells turn into cancer. The types include:

  • Ductal carcinoma, which begins in the cells of the ducts. This is the most common type.
  • Lobular carcinoma, which begins in the lobules. It is more often found in both breasts than other types of breast cancer.
  • Inflammatory breast cancer, in which cancer cells block lymph vessels in the skin of the breast. The breast becomes warm, red, and swollen. This is a rare type.
  • Paget's disease of the breast, which is a cancer involving the skin of the nipple. It usually also affects the darker skin around the nipple. It is also rare.
What causes breast cancer?

Breast cancer happens when there are changes in the genetic material (DNA). Often, the exact cause of these genetic changes is unknown.

But sometimes these genetic changes are inherited, meaning that you are born with them. Breast cancer that is caused by inherited genetic changes is called hereditary breast cancer.

There are also certain genetic changes that can raise your risk of breast cancer, including changes in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. These two changes also raise your risk of ovarian and other cancers.

Besides genetics, your lifestyle and the environment can affect your risk of breast cancer.

Who is at risk for breast cancer?

The factors that raise your risk of breast cancer include:

  • Older age
  • History of breast cancer or benign (noncancer) breast disease
  • Inherited risk of breast cancer, including having BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene changes
  • Dense breast tissue
  • A reproductive history that leads to more exposure to the estrogen hormone, including
    • Menstruating at an early age
    • Being at an older age when you first gave birth or never having given birth
    • Starting menopause at a later age
  • Taking hormone therapy for symptoms of menopause
  • Radiation therapy to the breast or chest
  • Obesity
  • Drinking alcohol
What are the signs and symptoms of breast cancer?

The signs and symptoms of breast cancer include:

  • A new lump or thickening in or near the breast or in the armpit.
  • A change in the size or shape of the breast.
  • A dimple or puckering in the skin of the breast. It may look like the skin of an orange.
  • A nipple turned inward into the breast.
  • Nipple discharge other than breast milk. The discharge might happen suddenly, be bloody, or happen in only one breast.
  • Scaly, red, or swollen skin in the nipple area or the breast
  • Pain in any area of the breast.
How is breast cancer diagnosed?

Your health care provider may use many tools to diagnose breast cancer and figure out which type you have:

  • A physical exam, including a clinical breast exam (CBE). This involves checking for any lumps or anything else that seems unusual with the breasts and armpits.
  • A medical history.
  • Imaging tests, such as a mammogram, an ultrasound, or an MRI.
  • Breast biopsy.
  • Blood chemistry tests, which measure different substances in the blood, including electrolytes, fats, proteins, glucose (sugar), and enzymes. Some of the specific blood chemistry tests include a basic metabolic panel (BMP), a comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP), and an electrolyte panel.

If these tests show that you have breast cancer, you will have tests that study the cancer cells. These tests help your provider decide which treatment would be best for you. The tests may include:

  • Genetic tests for genetic changes such as in the BRCA and TP53 genes.
  • HER2 test. HER2 is a protein involved with cell growth. It is on the outside of all breast cells. If your breast cancer cells have more HER2 than normal, they can grow more quickly and spread to other parts of the body.
  • An estrogen and progesterone receptor test. This test measures the amount of estrogen and progesterone (hormones) receptors in cancer tissue. If there are more receptors than normal, the cancer is called estrogen and/or progesterone receptor positive. This type of breast cancer may grow more quickly.

Another step is staging the cancer. Staging involves doing tests to find out whether the cancer has spread within the breast or to other parts of the body. The tests may include other diagnostic imaging tests and a sentinel lymph node biopsy. This biopsy is done to see whether the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes.

What are the treatments for breast cancer?

Treatments for breast cancer include:

  • Surgery such as
    • A mastectomy, which removes the whole breast
    • A lumpectomy to remove the cancer and some normal tissue around it, but not the breast itself
  • Radiation therapy
  • Chemotherapy
  • Hormone therapy, which blocks cancer cells from getting the hormones they need to grow
  • Targeted therapy, which uses drugs or other substances that attack specific cancer cells with less harm to normal cells
  • Immunotherapy
Can breast cancer be prevented?

You may be able to help prevent breast cancer by making healthy lifestyle changes such as:

  • Staying at a healthy weight
  • Limiting alcohol use
  • Getting enough exercisee
  • Limiting your exposure to estrogen by
    • Breastfeeding your babies if you can
    • Limiting hormone therapy

If you are at high risk, your health care provider may suggest that you take certain medicines to lower the risk. Some women at very high risk may decide to get a mastectomy (of their healthy breasts) to prevent breast cancer.

It's also important to get regular mammograms. They may be able to identify breast cancer in the early stages, when it is easier to treat.

NIH: National Cancer Institute

Normal FDA Approved Drugs

AMMONIUM CHLORIDE IN PLASTIC CONTAINER [Ammonium ChlorideClH4N]
RX
-
5meq/ml (injection injectable)
HospiraJun 13, 1984
efficacy
0.0  (0)
side effects
0.0  (0)
danger
0.0  (0)

UNK

AUBAGIO [TeriflunomideC12H9F3N2O2]
RX
-
14mg (oral tablet)
7mg (oral tablet)
Sanofi Aventis UsSep 12, 2012
  • Treatment of patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis while managing the risk of teriflunomide and rosuvastatin interaction by limiting the rosuvastatin dose to no more than 10mg and/or administering about half the normal dose.
  • Treatment of patients with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis.
efficacy
0.0  (0)
side effects
0.0  (0)
danger
0.0  (0)

UNK

WARNING: Consult a licensed physician in the appropriate field for medical treatment and drug prescription. Do not self medicate.


WARNING: All medicines, drugs, plants, chemicals or medicial precedures below are for reference only. Many of these treatments may be harmful and possibly fatal. Do not consume any plant, chemical, drug or otherwise without first consulting a licensed physician that practices medine in the appropriate field. The owner of this website will not be held liable for any injuries and deaths cause by following any home remedies. We have no control of what is posted.

Home Remedies for Normal

SORE THROAT [Pharyngitis]
   Licorice root has anti-inflammatory properties. Boil 1/2 ounce of licorice in 1 quart of water,... / ...days. Do not take licorice if you are pregnant, taking steroids or have low potassium levels. Low potassium levels can cause people to experience abnormal heart rhythms, high blood pressure, edema, lethargy, and/or congestive heart failure. The NIH has determined that there is insufficient data a... / ...if you have questions about possible interactions with a drug or supplement you take.
Mechanism - glycyrrhizin
Jlaiii | August 11th, 2020
efficacy
0.0  (0)
side effects
0.0  (0)
danger
0.0  (0)

UNK


WARNING: All medicines, drugs, plants, chemicals or medicial precedures below are for historical reference only. Many of these treatments are now known to be harmful and possibly fatal. Do not consume any plant, chemical, drug or otherwise without first consulting a licensed physician that practices medine in the appropriate field.

Felter's Materia Medica on Normal

AGAR
   A dried substance of mucilaginous character abstracted from several species of sea weeds (marine algae) growing along the coast of Asia. Most of... / ...rendering the best service when intestinal secretion is scanty, and in consequence, the feces are abnormally dry. From one teaspoonful to two heaping tablespoonfuls may be given once or twice a day in...2

ARNICA MONTANA
   The dried flower-heads of Arnica montana, Linné (Nat. Ord. Compositae). A perennial of Siberia and the cooler parts of Europe; also found in... / ...ronic rheumatism, with cold skin and general debility it will stimulate the nervous system, restore normal warmth, re-establish restrained secretion, and thus relieve pain. In painful, bruised or suba...2

ASCLEPIAS TUBEROSA
   ...d almost insensibly. Its regulation of the true secretion of the skin more nearly resembles that of normal or insensible perspiration than that caused by any other diaphoretic, corallorhiza possibly e......n of the skin. It is the most perfect diaphoretic we possess, so completely does it counterfeit the normal process of insensible perspiration. When the secretion of sweat is in abeyance it restores it......at is in abeyance it restores it; when colliquative it restrains it through its effect of promoting normal functioning of the sudoriparous glands. It may be indicated even though the patient be freely...2

BUCHU (Barosma)AGBE2
   The dried leaves of (1) Barosma betulina (Thunberg), Bartling and Wendland, or of (2) Barosma serratifolia (Curtis), Willdenow. (Nat. Ord.... / ...rmint taste. Preparation.—Specific Medicine Barosma. Dose, 1 to 60 drops. Specific Indications.—Abnormally acid urine, with constant desire to urinate with but little relief from micturition; vesico... / ...have far better remedies. Buchu renders the urine dark, the latter depositing a brownish precipitate. It should never be used in acute disorders.2

CACTUS (Selenicereus spp.)
   ... By improving the nutrition of the organ it is possible, in some instances, to correct structural abnormalities. Valvular troubles have been noted to gradually disappear under its prolonged administra......on, or in excitable or nervous individuals, the remedy relieves, because its tendency is to promote normal rhythmic action of the cardiac muscle. Aortic regurgitation is nearly always benefited by it ...2

CALUMBA (Jateorhiza palmata)JAPA2
   The root of Jateorhiza palmata (Lamarck), Miers (Nat. Ord. Menispermaceae). A climbing perennial, the Kalumb of the Southeast coast of Africa.... / ...etite remains good. It is largely ineffectual also when organic disease of the stomach prevents the normal outflow of gastric juice. When given, the small doses are preferable to large ones; and on ac...2

COCAERYTH5
   The dried leaves of Erythroxylon Coca, Lamarck, and its varieties. (Nat. Ord. Erythroxylaceae.) South American Andes-Peru, Bolivia, and Chili.... / ...s a remedy to be used temporarily only for defective innervation. Though the appetite is apparently normal, digestion is imperfect, and there is an associated occipital and post-cervical pain, dizzine...2

COLOCYNTHIS
   The dried, peeled pulp of the fruit of Citrullus Colocynthis (Linné,) Schrader. (Nat. Ord. Cucurbitaceae.) Mediterranean basin of Europe, Asia,... / ...rops; Water, 4 fluidounces. Mix. Sig.: One teaspoonful every 3 or 4 hours. Where there is a lack of normal secretion 5 drops of tincture of capsicum may be added to the mixture. With similar symptoms... / ...of the fifth nerve, when the characteristic cutting pain prevails. It should be given also when colicky pain precedes or accompanies amenorrhoea.2

CONVALLARIACONVA
   The rhizome and rootlets of Convallaria majalis, Linné (Nat. Ord. Liliaceae.) Common Name: Lily of the Valley. Principal Constituents.—Two... / ...endant dyspnea and palpitation. When acting favorably the heart action becomes slower and stronger, normal rhythm is established, arterial pressure increased, respiration deepened, and the sense of su... / ...carditis and endocarditis, using it in fractional doses. Convallaria is of less service in stenosis of the aorta than in mitral disorders.2

COPTIS
   The rhizome and rootlets of Coptis trifolia, Salisbury. (Nat. Ord. Berberidaceae.) A plant of dark, cold swamps and sphagnous woods, found in Siberia, Greenland, and Iceland, and in... / ...complishes. Coptis is a good stimulant for atonic indigestion and dyspepsia, with deficiency in the normal flow of the peptic juices.2

CORNUSCOAC
   The bark and root-bark of Cornus florida, Linné. (Nat. Ord. Cornaceae.) A beautiful flowering tree of the United States. Dose, 5 to 60... / ...and general exhaustion. It is adapted to cases with feeble, relaxed tissues, with weak pulse and subnormal temperature. It has been suggested as useful in gastric ulcer. The preferred doses are from 5...2

CUBEBA
   The unripe, full-grown fruits of Piper Cubeba, Linné, fil. (Nat. Ord. Piperaceae.) Java, Borneo, Sumatra, Prince of Wales Island, and other isles... / ...-like cutaneous eruption. It is eliminated by the urine and by the bronchial membranes, increasing normal and restraining abnormal secretions. It imparts its peculiar aromatic odor to the urine and t... / ...and hay fever. Care must be had not to blister the roof of the mouth, an untoward effect that is produced by the oil in a good quality of cubeba.2

DIGITALIS
   ...condition verges into exhaustion from over-stimulation of the heartmuscle and from a failure of the normal impulse conduction from auricle to ventricle. This is particularly evident when a person taki......nveniently studied under three heads, or stages, representing, however, but continuous action under normal and increased dosage rather than three actually separate conditions: (1) The therapeutic; (2)...2

EPIGÆA
   The leaves of Epigaea repens, Linné (Nat. Ord. Ericaceae). A small, trailing, shrubby plant of the eastern half of the United States. Dose, 5 to... / ...tion of the mucous membranes, vesical tenesmus, dysuria, and strangury. The urine is of higher than normal gravity and may contain, besides deposited salts, lithic acid gravel and broken down blood. I...2

ERYNGIUM
   The rhizome of Eryngium yuccifolium, Michaux (Nat. Ord. Umbelliferae). A swamp and wet prairie plant found from Virginia to Texas. Dose, 10 to 40... / ... by inflammation and is of great value in acute cystitis, with deep-seated, burning pain, and where normal secretion is scanty and pathologic catarrh is more abundant. It acts well with apis or gelsem... / ...gastric irritation and mucous diarrhoea. In these cases the tongue is red and tender, nausea is marked, and there is a strong for food.2


WARNING: All medicines, drugs, plants, chemicals or medicial precedures below are for historical reference only. Many of these treatments are now known to be harmful and possibly fatal. Do not consume any plant, chemical, drug or otherwise without first consulting a licensed physician that practices medine in the appropriate field.

Physician's Materia Medica on Normal

ACID HYDROCHLORIC (Muriatic Acid)
   Medicinally prescribed when the normal hydrochloric acid is de ficient in the gastric secretions as is the case in typhoid fever, in can cer of the stomach and in the gastric disturbances following alcoholic excesses. Dose of the oflicial diluted acid (10%), 0.6 to 1.6 c. c. (10 to 20 M).3


WARNING: All medicines, drugs, plants, chemicals or medicial precedures below are for historical reference only. Many of these treatments are now known to be harmful and possibly fatal. Do not consume any plant, chemical, drug or otherwise without first consulting a licensed physician that practices medine in the appropriate field.

Physician's Therapeutics Memoranda on Normal

CHOLERA, ASIATIC
   As prophylactic measures, avoid all uncooked foods, especiaHy water that has not been boiled; sulphuric acid lemonade. In early stage, camphor, salol and... / ...doses of calomel. In stage of collapse stimulants and hot baths or hot water bed; strychnine and atropine hypodermatically; subcutaneous injection of normal salt solution.3

CONVULSIONS
   For infants, a hot bath with remedies directed to the cause. which is often teething or... / ...powder); veratrum viride as arterial sedative; venesec tion if the case demands; Tonic Pilocarpine Compound as a diuretic, or submammary injection of normal salt solution. Control convul sions by cautious inhalations of chloroform, aided by chloral hydrate and potassium bromide. Morphine may be usef...3

GASTRITIS. ACUTE
   Empty the stomach. preferably by stomach tube, washing out with warm normal salt solution; opium (deodcrizui tincture), mucila ginous drinks. hot fomentations or poultice over epigastrium. Treat inflammatory symptoms on general principles.3

HEADACHE
   Seek the cause and govern treatment accordingly. Distinguish articularly congestive from anemic headaches. In the former ergot and vascular sedatives are useful, in the latter stimulating remedies are indicated. See that excretions are normal, that the eyes are not under strain from errors of refraction. that hygenic conditions are good and that the patient takes suflicient exercise and recreation.3

SHOCK
   Hypodermatic injection of atropine and digitalin; application of heat by hot water bags, etc.; intravenous injection of sterilized normal salt solution3

SPERMATORRHEA
   Physiological seminal emissions in unmarried men call for no treatment, although habitual chastily of thought, avoiding of late suppers and of leather beds will greatly diminish their frequency. Abnormally frequent emissions due to debility are to be treated by tonics—iron valerianate and lupulin is a good combination-—; if due to self abuse, impress patient with danger of the practice, and pre scribe bromides, hyoscine, a hard bed with light covering, etc.3

UREMIA
   Promote elimination by skin and bowels; Tonic Pilocarpine Com pound, N., B. & Co. with the hot pack for the former; elaterium for the latter. For convulsions, chloral and bromides (Bromanodyne) or chloroform (by inhalation). Vt!ut3S€3Ctl()n must be considered, with the alternative of intravenous injection of normal salt solution.3


References

1) Bergner, Pal., Griswold, Alexandra F., Hufford, David J., et al. . Morton Grove, Il: Publications International, 2017.
2) Felter, Harvey Wickes, 1922, The Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Cincinnati, Ohio.
3) Nelson, Baker & Co., 1904, Physician's Handy Book of Materia Medica and Therapeustics, Detroit, Michigan.