Breast cancer incidences are rising in the developing world. It is the most common type of cancer that occurs in women.
Most forms of this cancer are invasive. There are various types of invasive breast cancer. The two most common forms are invasive ductal carcinoma in situ dcis and invasive lobular carcinoma in situ.
There are many genetic as well as clinical factors responsible to enhance the risk of developing this cancer. A personalized approach can significantly aid in its prevention.
There are numerous modalities in the management and prevention of this cancer. Current strategies include
- Primary prevention
- Chemoprevention
- Mastectomy/ Bilateral Oophorectomy
Chemoprevention medicines are used for treating the patients who are at higher risk. The surgeries like mastectomy or bilateral oophorectomy are used for the patients who have detrimental mutations in the genes.
Other than these, primary prevention is the modality which aims to prevent the disease before it ever takes place. The prevention of this cancer based on the risk factors which can lead to develop breast cancer.
Many, but not every of these risks can be amended. These can be the potential cancer preventive tips for lowering the risk of this type of cancer as well. The risk factors which can be revised are diet, pregnancy and nursing and avoidance of things like excessive alcohol intake, tobacco, ionizing radiations and exogenous female hormones.
Let's take a look into these:
- Healthy Weight
- Exercise
- Ionizing Radiations
- Tobacco and Alcohol
- Exogenous Use of Estrogen and Progestin
- Pregnancy and Nursing
Healthy Weight
Obesity is one of the common reasons behind many cancers, including breast, ovary, prostate, liver and kidney. Talking about premenopausal estrogen receptor-negative and triple negative types (TNBC) of breast cancer cells, obesity is found to be a high risk factor.
In the reports of two meta-analyses, it has been noticed that obese premenopausal women with TNBC showed higher risk of developing cancer (80%) as comparison to the non-onese women (43%).
Exercise
Approach to exercise found to be safe for breast cancer patients as it aids in improving the psychological and physiological well-being of the patients.
It can be seen in the reports of a meta-analyses, which assessed the relationship between breast cancer and physical activity. The physically active people exhibited 12% less reduction in the risk of this cancer. Premenopausal women with BMI <25 exhibit a significantly lower risk of developing estrogen and progesterone receptor-negative breast cancer.
Ionizing radiation
Ionizing radiation can induce various cancers. Speaking about breast cancer, many of the studies assessed its association with the exposure of high-intensity ionizing radiations.
- In an analysis, infants who obtained on average 30 cGy for hemangioma treatment showed 40% higher risk of getting this cancer.
- The exposure to manifold chest X-rays in tuberculosis treatment within young and adolescent girls also exhibited a higher risk of breast cancer, appearing 15 years following radiation exposure.
- Also, the young women, who went through computerized tomography (CT) scans of the chest also increase the risk of breast cancer.
Tobacco and Alcohol
Studies have revealed that women with concomitant alcohol use with intake of tobacco shows higher breast cancer risk. In another analysis, a significant association can be seen between smoking and breast cancer. The incidences of breast cancer found to be 24% higher in smokers as compared to non-smokers.
Exogenous Use of Estrogen and Progestin
The association of exogenous exposure of female hormones and breast cancer is uncertain. However, evidence of use of combined estrogen and progesterone formulations following menopause exhibits an elevated breast cancer risk.
Reports regarding use of birth control pills and breast cancer have also been evaluated. However, the risk has only been noticed in active users, it reduces over time once the use of these pills is stopped. The use of IUDs which release progestins also tend to elevate the risk of breast cancer by 20 percent.
Pregnancy and Nursing
Right away following childbirth, there is a higher risk of this cancer in females of all ages. This type of cancer is also more aggressive in nature, hormone-insensitive, with higher proliferative rate and greater probability of bone marrow metastases. However, the no relevant relationship was noticed between lactation and breast cancer risk.
These are the risk factors, by which taking care of the risk of breast cancer can be reduced and improved survival rates. Along with these also adopt healthy eating, healthy lifestyle and include anticancer spices, vegetables, cruciferous vegetables and fruits and avoid having red meat, processed meats and fried foods in day-to-day life. Following these cancer preventive tips, not only the risk of breast cancer decreases but also of other types of cancers.