The breast cancer is, worldwide, the most common malignant tumor in women, representing 28% of all cancers. Moreover, it is characteristic of developed countries. Currently a woman in eight will develop, throughout his life, a breast cancer.
The risk of developing it increases progressively with increasing age of women; Thus, a woman 70 years poses a risk almost 10 times higher than a 40 years.
The discovery of a lump, lump or mass of hard consistency is the most common breast cancer (80%) manifestation. Another manifestation of the same, though more rarely (5%), is the bloody discharge from the nipple.
Detecting a tumor early stage carries a better prognosis and longer survival; moreover, in the case of breast tumors, early detection enables less and less sequelae mutilating operations.
Detection of breast cancer
The three most important for early detection of breast cancer with which we are currently testing:
- Breast self examination
- Clinical examination by the gynecologist
- The mammogram .
In summary
Breast self examination
Few women perform well your breast self-exam, which allows you to discover early any alteration. You should consult your gynecologist if you notice:
- alterations nipple
- skin disorders
- existence of a lump.
Breast self examination involves regular breast examination by the
woman herself in order to detect any alteration to suspect the presence
of a tumor.
It is a simple test that does not have, even for successful
implementation requires a prior training of the concerned risks and
cost.
Every woman should know the morphology and texture of your breasts, so
that allows you to detect any change in them as soon as possible.
Breast self-examination lasts a few minutes, 4 or 5 at most. If the woman still has the menstruation should practice the next day to finish the cycle. If the woman is in menopause should perform self-examination on the same day each month, to acquire and establish a permanent habit. Ideally begin self-examination since the young begins to have its first rules .
First
The woman will stand in front of the mirror with your arms hanging
along the body, naked from the waist up, with fully exposed breasts and
with good lighting (Figure 1).
In this position you will notice:
It should not be alarmed if one breast is lower than the other or one is bigger than the other, which may be normal.
- if there are depressions or abnormal elevations of the skin on the breasts
- if there are changes color in the same
- if the shape of the breast or nipple is different
- if there are scabs or retractions in the areola or nipple
- any changes in relation to previous months.
Raising his arms to the ceiling, she will turn the trunk to the right
and left to see if any of the changes listed above (Figure 2).
Then he placed his hands on his hips, pressing against his own body and
proceed back to the mammary observation indicated in the first point.
Third
Lying on the bed face up, you should put his left hand under your head
and use your right hand to feel the left breast, fingers together but
not rigid (Figure 3). You try to see if hard lumps or nodules are touching or painful areas.
To do this, proceed as if the chest were a perfect circle is divided
into 4 quadrants: first the upper inner quadrant from top to bottom or
center of the chest to the periphery, then the lower inner quadrant,
then the lower end is felt and then the external upper (4). Finish the areola and nipple, so there are none left breast region unexplored.
Quarter
At arm's length throughout the body will feel the hollow of the armpit
sliding his hand over the ribs up and down (Figure 5), to check for
lymph took the hand move.
Fifth
Finally lightly squeeze the nipple between his fingers and observe
whether any discharge comes out, then looking at its color and features.
Sixth
Likewise, the right breast is scanned by placing your right hand under your head and use your left hand to feel.
What is breast self-examination?
Self-examination should include:
The pattern to be followed is:
- A visual examination in front of a mirror
- A manual examination of both breasts and armpits.
Although the presence of lumps or discharge from the nipples may be due
to many causes, besides breast cancer, appeared before the woman should
consult a specialist.
- Alterations of the nipple: if reversed or withdrawn, if you have any erosion or skin lesion.
- Serous or bloody nipple discharge spontaneous or induced by pressure form.
- Redness of the skin of the breast, increased heat or appearance of "orange peel".
- Presence of a breast lump, fixed or mobile, specific limits or poorly defined.
- Skin retraction by attaching a tumor thereunder.
Breast self-examination has a number of drawbacks:
It has not been demonstrated that its use serves to reduce mortality from breast cancer.
While this probably results from a bad application of the technique and
low track of it, ie, that few women perform well, completely and
periodically their self-exploration
- You can generate situations of anxiety for many women, the psychic burden of their involvement in cancer diagnosis.
- Because of the possibility, particularly young women, to find multiple nodules which eventually will have significance.
Today, mammography is the ideal method for early diagnosis of breast
cancer, since it can detect non-palpable tumors small or deep;
It has also been shown that carrying out regular mammograms to women
over 50 years reduces mortality from breast cancer by 20-30%.
Anyway, despite the foregoing, the breast self-examination can be a
method that should be considered when there are available programs
organized mammographic screening and selected groups of women without
symptoms, who may practice does not involve them emotional overload and
may adopt it as a routine hygienic habit.
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