General Information:

San Antonio Breast Cancer Foundation has the mission to provide information about breast cancer research. The symposium has grown from one day regional to four day program and it has an international audience of academic and also private researchers and physicians from all over the world ( about 90 countries such as - Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Grenada ,Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras ,Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland , Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, Trinidad And Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Indies).

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The symposium has the purpose to achieve a sort of balance between basic research, clinical and translational research through a forum for communication, interaction and education for researchers, for those which are interested in breast cancer and for health professionals. The scientific program of the symposium consists of invited lectures, poster presentation, selected slides, and case discussions by experts, chosen from the submitted abstracts. In general a session takes about 2-3 hours (for slide presentations are allotted 10 min and they are each followed by 5 min of discussion / poster sessions are 2 hours in duration).

The symposium is primarily for academic physicians, private physicians and researchers which are involved in breast cancer surgical, radiation oncology, gynecologic, medical and like I said above, also directed towards health care professionals.



The administration functions of the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium are to the operations office at University Plaza Building, 7526 Louis Pasteur, Room 121, San Antonio, Texas 78229.

Symposium Contact: - Mr. Rich Markow - MC 8224 ,7703 Floyd Curl Drive

San Antonio, TX 78229-3900 Tel: 210-567-6070 , Fax: 210-450-6072 Email: sabcs@uthscsa.edu / Website Address: www.sabcs.org (the future meetings are in 6-10 December 2011, 4-8 December 2012 and 10-14 December 2013).



San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium Committee :
Symposia Director: Rich Markow - UT Health Science Center - San Antonio, TX
Co-Directors: Charles Coltman, - UT Health Science Center - San Antonio, TX and Kent Osborne - Dan Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine - Houston, TX

Executive Committee:
Carlos Arteaga - Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center - Nashville, TN
Gary Chamness - Baylor College of Medicine - Houston, T
Charles Coltman, - UT Health Science Center - San Antonio, TX
Margaret Foti - American Association for Cancer Research - Philadelphia, PA
Ismail Jatoi - UT Health Science Center - San Antonio, TX
Adrian Lee - Baylor College of Medicine - Houston, TX
Kent Osborne - Dan Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine - Houston, TX
Peter Ravdin -UT Health Science Center - San Antonio, TX
Saraswati Sukumar - John Hopkins Oncology Center - Baltimore, MD
Ian Thompson - UT Health Science Center - San Antonio, TX
Program Coordinator: Gary Chamness, Baylor College of Medicine - Houston, TX

Thanks to its aesthetics values due to the fact that the breast has always been a symbol of femininity, implications of breast cancer in women’s psychological status are great. Thus, many women show a real phobia of the disease and because its incidence is growing, it is a permanently source of stress. This “fear” of developing breast cancer, keeps the patients away from the doctor instead to bring them as quickly and more often to him. Many times this state of panic and mental depression is not justified since the formation of breast nodules to not indicate breast cancer, but it can be the result of some hormonal disorders, elucidated through rigorous medical checks. Fortunately, malignant tumors in the breasts are occurring only 20% and the benign tumors, the rest of 80%. Breast cancer, like all other cancers, is fully curable if it is diagnosed and treated in early stages and this can only be achieved through a monthly self – examination, but made it correctly.

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Breast cancer usually begins with the formation of a small and well defined tumor. Some tumors are benign, meaning that they will not invade other tissues, and others are malignant or cancerous. Malignant tumors have the potential to make metastases, meaning that they can spread to others organs of the body. The danger of these malignant tumors occurs when the disease is worsening through nipple bleeding, breast pain, persistent pains to that breast, nodules multiplying and the appearance of some eczema on the nipple.

Breast cancer occurs most frequently in reproductive period, from adolescence until menopause. To young ages, it may appear only few lumps as small tumors, detected by palpation, which show no symptoms of breast cancer and they reabsorbed by itself. After the age of 30 years, it can form some liquid non – cancerous tumors, small or large as the breast (breast cysts). Sometimes the cyst may progress to the cancerous phase.

Most women have an increased risk of breast cancer. Among the most significant risk factors are: age and family history of breast cancer. A women whose mothers, sister or daughter had breast cancer, have a risk with two or three times more likely to get the disease, especially if the family is affected by breast cancer at least two first – degree relatives.

Many studies have shown that women, whose diet is rich in fat, are more susceptible to almost any disease.



The different types of breast cancer grow and spread rapidly. Even the men can develop breast cancer but their number is less than a half percent of all cases. In women, breast cancer is the most common cancer and second leading cause of cancer deaths – after lung cancer. Statistics show that eight women who could reach 85 years, develops breast cancer at some point in their life. Two thirds of women with breast cancer are over 50 years old, and the remaining have between 39 and 49 year old, at least the most of them.

To prevention chapter should be referred the importance of mammography which s made n women over 40 years old. Another one is self- examination which can be made by any medical specialist but also by you (do it monthly and if you notice a breast lump that has not existed before, remember that this is a warning signal, especially if it hurts; pan in breast cancer is very late). Breastfeeding is considered as a factor of safety, if it last more than six months. Also, the birth of a child before the age of 25 years is a protective factor against breast cancer.

Breast cancer is a cancer in which the cells of the breast tissue divide and grow without any control. It is the second leading cause of death in the whole world, and of course.. is the most common disease in women. Another very serious problem which the medical world is facing, is that the breast cancer is becoming more common in very young patients, fact that was reported exceptionally 20 -30 years ago.

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Breast cancer is fully curable if it is diagnosed and treated in time.

Like all other cancers, breast cancer is fully curable if it is diagnosed and treated in early stages. This goal can be achieved only through self – examinations which are supposed to be made regularly (monthly) and in case of any abnormalities, immediately to have a medical examination (you can also find on this website many others effective information about self – examination). Here are some names of few famous women diagnosed with breast cancer, in an early stage, who fought breast cancer:



- Debra Shipley – British politician
- Claire Shulman - former Borough President of Queens
- Carly Simon - singer
- Jaclyn Smith - actress
- Suzanne Somers - actress
- Karin Stanford - writer
- Koo Stark - actress
- Gloria Steinem -actres
- Lynne Stewart – lawyer/activist
- Gloria Stuart - actress
- Sarah Susanka - English architect and author
- Ruth Ann Swenson - soprano opera star
- Stephanie Swift - actress
- Jools Topp - singer
- Dawn Upshaw - soprano diva
- Ann Veneman - former head of U.S Dept. of Agriculture
- Joyce Wadler - journalist, writer and memoirist
- Linda Waterfall - singer and songwriter
- Corinne Wood - American politician
- Laura Ziskin - American film/Tv producer
- Christina Applegate - actress
- Kylie Minouge - singer
- Sheryl Crow - singer
- Betty Ford - former United States First Lady
- Wenche Foss - actress



- Maria Friedman - actress
- France Gall - singer
- Liza Goddard- actress
- Christine Gregoire - Governor of Washington State
- Nanci Griffith - singer and songwriter
- Dorothy Hamill - American Olympic champion
- Jane Hamsher - film producer
- Sheila Hancock - actress
- Julie Harris - actress
- Marsha Hunt – singer and novelist
- Kate Jackson - actress
- Ann Jillian – actress
- Edna Campbell - professional basketball star
- Robin Carnahan -politician
- Diahann Carroll -actress and singer
- Beth Nielsen Chapman - singer and song writer
- Lois Chiles - actress
- Pat Danner -politician
- Ruby Dee- actress.
- Simone de Oliveira actress and singer
- Diana Dill actress
- Susan Duncan - author
- Barbara Ehrenreich -author and ethicist
- Jill Eikenberry - actress
- Linda Ellerbee – Tv journalist
- Eileen Brennan - actress
- Barbara Allen - politician
- Anastacia - singer
- Christina Applegate - actress
- Dame Eileen Atkins - actress
- Kaye Ballard - actress and singer
- Brigitte Bardot - actress
- Alexandra Bastedo - model and actress
- Allyce Beasley - actress
- Jami Bernard - author
- Shirley Temple Black - Oscar-winning child actress

How can be it be administrated? Taxotere is used in specialized centers of chemotherapy (witch are using drugs to treat cancer), under the medical supervision which is qualified in the administration of chemotherapy; Taxotere is administrated in the infusion for one hour every three weeks. The dose, the treatment duration and the drugs, they all depend on the type of cancer which is being treated.

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Taxotere is used only when the number of neutrophils (a type of white cells of the blood) is at least 1.500 cells/mm3.

Dexamethasone (an anti –inflammatory drug) should be administered to the patient with a day before the treatment in case of prostate cancer and a day or two days after treatment in case of others types of cancer.



Taxotere – mechanism of action. The active substance of Taxotere, docetaxel, belongs to a group of medicines used to cancer, known as taxanes. Docetaxel blocks the ability of cells to destroy the intern “skeleton” that allows their division and multiplication. If the skeleton is not destroyed, the cells can not divide and they eventually will die. Docetaxel affects also the non cancerous cells, such as blood cells, which can lead to side effects.

Taxotere was studied on a total of about 3000 patients with breast cancer, 1900 patients with cell lung cancer, on about 1000 patients with prostate cancer, 445 patients with gastric adenocarcinoma and 897 patents with cancer located in the head area and neck. In most of these studies, Taxotere was used in combination with other treatments against cancer and then it was compared with different treatments or different combinations of the same treatment but without Taxotere. The main measures of efficacy were the number of patients who responded to treatment, the survival time of the patients without the disease worsening and the survival duration in general.

In all five types of cancer, the addition of Taxotere to other cancer treatments increased the number of patients who responded to treatment, the survival time of the patients without the disease to go worse, and the survival duration in general. Used to treat breast cancer, Taxotere was at least effective and sometimes even more effective than other drugs with which it was compared.



What are the risks associated with Taxotere ?

The most common side effects associated with Taxotere (seen in more than 1 patient out of 10) are:
-neutrophilia (low number of neutrophils) and fever neutrophilia
- anemia (low number of red blood cells)
- thrombocytopenia (low number of platelets)
- peripheral sensory neuropathy (the damage of the nerves in hands and feet)
- peripheral motor neuropathy (nerves damage  causing difficulty in coordinating movements)
- dysgeusia (altered taste)
- dyspnea (breathing difficulty)
- stomatitis (inflammation of mucous membrane of the mouth)
- diarrhea
- nausea (feeling sick)
- vomiting
- alopecia (hair loss)
- skin reactions, nail impairment
- myalgia (muscle pain)
- lack of appetite
- infections
- fluid retention
- asthenia (weakness)
- pain
- hypersensitivity (allergic reactions).

These side effects may be more severe when Taxotere is used in combination with others medicines to treat cancer. For a full list of all side effects associated with Taxotere, see the prospectus.

What is cancer?

The cancer s a disease that occurs when cells become abnormal and they divide without control. Each organ of the body is constructed from a variety of cells. Cells are divide in a certain order so that their number increases only how much is needed. If cells divide when it is not needed, it will result too much tissue and this tissue surplus is called tumor and it may be malignant or benign.

If a tumor is benign, it is not cancer. 80% of the breast tumors are benign so they can be removed without recurrence. The most important quality of the benign tumor is that it does not invade the surrounding tissues and it does not spread to others parts of the body. Benign breast tumors are not threatening the life.

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Malignant tumors are represented by cancer. Cancer cells grow and divide without control, invading and destroying surrounding tissues and organs. Also, cancer cells can leave the original place where they appeared and spread in the body forming secondary tumors. This spreading of the cells is called metastasis.



What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that forms in the breast tissue, usually in the cells of the lobe and in the ones of the duct (glades that secretes milk). Breast cancer can occur in men and women, but in men the frequency is much smaller.

How common is breast cancer?

In women, breast cancer is the most common type of cancer.

What does mean “advanced breast cancer”?

Breast cancer is considered advanced when the tumor has spread from the initial location. Doctors take in consider several factors when they determinate the stage of breast cancer: tumor size, involvement of the lymph nodes, distant metastasis, etc. After determining the stage, the advanced breast cancer can be classified into two categories: locally advanced or matastatic.

What is the locally advanced breast cancer?

The term indicates that the tumor is large (greater than 5 cm) or it has spread to nearby tissues, such as lymph nodes. Locally advanced breast cancer is framed in stage III and if it is an operable tumor then the classification is in stage IIIA.



What is metastatic breast cancer?

The term indicates that the malignant tumor has spread to other parts of the body, e.g. bone, lung, liver or brain.

How can the risk be reduced?

Experts estimate that more than 50% of cancer cases can be avoided because of some improvements to lifestyle. Here are some tips that can help lower the risk of breast cancer.

-         No smoking / no alcohol
-         Healthy eating: eat more fruits and vegetables and less red meat.
-         Physical exercises. This will help to maintain appropriate body weight.
-         Protect yourself from the strong sun and periodically review your skin and report any changes to your doctor.
-         Follow the cancer screening recommendations – Monthly self-examination, annually medical examination (since the age of 20) and early mammography when you have family history of breast cancer.
-         In case of problems in the breast (of any kind), it is recommended tracking its evolution.

SOS: Men with breasts! Do not laugh because it is a pretty serious thing which can be added as an additional complex of any man alive. It is called gynecomastia and yes, it is translated as an increased volume of the adipose tissue (fat tissue).

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You would be surprised to know that between men and women are very little differences. Include several organs, a different balance between estrogen and testosterone, a slightly changed genome and few subtle changes in brain and that is it, you found out what are the differences between women and men. Like women, men can develop breast cancer too; (it is true that breast cancer in men can't be compared with the breast cancer in women).



The girls who reached puberty are full of hormones which develops breasts, basin, and hair to grow. In other words, hormones prepare the girl to become a mother. At puberty, the same thing happens with boys but in their case, the king is the testosterone. It is not a refrigerant agent but hormone that makes the boy to become a male throughout the rule. Besides testosterone, in men are also small amounts of estrogen, or whatever.. so it should happen. This makes that during the puberty, the boys will wake up with a pair of breasts. Not really like Pamela Anderson’s breasts but few changes in the nipple more or less represented. These changes are physiological and they will disappear in adolescence. The problem is that many adults are facing the gynecomastia, not knowing how to how to get rid of this physically inconvenience which are giving them inhibitions, complexes, depressions and lack of confidence.



On the basis of gynecomastia, is an altered balance between testosterone and estrogen, which means decreasing the first and increasing the latter. This imbalance can be induced by serious diseases, substances of exigent, drugs or modifications of certain endocrine glands.
To start your lesson well, know that excessive consumption of alcohol  does not lead to his disappearance, but it leads to a severe hepatic disease (known as the cirrhosis) or to breast cancer development.


In cirrhosis, the patient has high levels of estrogen and, of course, gynecomastia. So, do not always sit with the bottle in your month, because the thing about the breast increasing is something insignificant beside the terrible suffering from cirrhosis; but it is good to know, no alcohol!
Gynecomastia may also occur in hyperthyroidism, thyroid disease with high levels of hormones in the blood T3/T4. The ones with hyperthyroidism sweat more, have palpitations, are sensitive to strong emotions and the always feel that they need to so something (hyperactivity). The blood test revealed that T3/T4 above normal values and the oral treatment instituted easily resolve all the disturbances, thus removing also the cause of gynecomastia. The man who has seen a considerable increase of the fat tissue, must follow a medical examination. This modification it can be “translated” as lung neoplasm, testicular or adrenal.

The most important factor which causes gynecomastia remain the drug administration. Who had suffered a stomach ulcer and has taken cimetidine (H2 blockers), experienced also the breast incensement. After stopping the medication, gynecomastia will withdraw gradually. Also, patients with epilepsy taking phenytoin, also suffer of gynecomastia as a side effect of the drug. Cardiac has the same problem too; also the ones who need to take spironolactone or anti-cancerous drugs. Another important thing to mention is that the antidepressants and anxiolitics, (e.g. diazepam / lorazepam) give gynecomastia and it is better to avid the administration of those drugs.

Breast cancer is a problem or a risk that any women have. Lifestyle that modernization requires, chaotic diet, the stress, lack of physical exercises and environmental or hereditary factors, predispose many women to this undesirable disease called breast cancer. Doctors from all over the world tried to find out what causes this disease and how it can be prevented, so that there were highlighted few things that will reduce greatly the risk of breast cancer. Here is the minimum action that you should follow to have a healthy life.

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1. Nutrition is the main weapon. Unfortunately, what we ingest often reflects on our health. It is not a mystery that the nutrition may represent an important risk factor in the development of many diseases. To prevent cancer, your diet should contain:

- chicken, beef or fish
- soybean (contains phytoestrogens)
- fruits and vegetables
- eggs and cheese
- propolis and flaxseeds (the latter ones contains phyoestrogens)
- supplements of vitamin D (taken together with calcium)
- cereals

2. Avoid eating complex fat. A healthy diet is indicated in preventing the breast cancer, and it should not contain complex fat found in butter, margarine, pork, cream, mutton, etc.



3. Be very careful about extra pounds. Studies have highlighted a link between excess weight and increasing the frequency of breast cancer appearance. More specifically, it seems that obesity is one of the favoring  factors of breast cancer, precisely for this reason you should control your weight (5 kg above average are allowed), so since the first signs of gaining weight, you can take precautions (change the regime not use drastic diets or starvation).and / or appeal to nutritionist. Your health is above everything. If the financial factor is an obstacle, think how many charges and how much suffering you will have in case of a disease, so it is worthy the investment in prevention.

4. Avoid alcohol. British researchers have shown the higher incidence of breast cancer in women who daily consume alcohol, so as to prevent breast cancer, it is better to summarize it, drinking only a glass of alcohol in few days.

5. Physical exercises are the strength pillars for the health. Besides the many benefits that physical exercise offers, they also contribute to chase fatigue, to body oxygenation, fats burn and reducing the pounds excess. (also, increases vascular perfusion improving circulation in all tissues, including the mammary gland).



6. Avoid sunlight. I am sure that bronze is appreciated by all women but you should try to avoid the topless sunbathe, because the sunlight have a special effect on glandular cells. Even if you use a high protection cream (which is required in these days when there is almost no ozone), do not take off your bath bra.

7. Weekly examine your breasts. Somewhere in front of a mirror, you must examine your breasts. The self-examination made regularly is important for early detection of any abnormalities that may locate in the breasts. For women between ages 45 and 50 it is required to follow a mammogram annually. Also, it is recommended to follow clinical examination regularly because there exists the possibility that you have not seen anything to self-examination of the breasts.

Breast cancer logo

(the pink ribbon logo has been for over fifteen years

the international symbol of breast cancer awareness).

“I was shocked when I heard this news”, says the singer Sheryl Crow after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2006. The artist began the treatment for breast cancer right after diagnosis, at three weeks after her breakup with her former fiancé Lance Amstrong; Lance has maintained the contact with Sheryl, with her doctor and also with her family and he was confident in her ex-fiancée’s recovery because she has a strong character.

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Lace Amstrong was also diagnosed with testicular cancer, but he managed to recover after a difficult treatment.

According to some confident sources, the two stars did not know about the disease when they decided to separate.

Sheryl was confident in her chances of cure saying on her own homepage: “There is almost 1 American woman out of 7 which is annually diagnosed with breast cancer and more than 2 million of the Americans are living currently with this disease. I join the over 200000 women that will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2006, in the United States.”



Sheryl Crow recovered after surgery (witch had place in Los Angeles) and then she made a preventive treatment with radiation. She certainly is a breast cancer survivor.

But what about Sheryl and Lance relationship? It seems that the wounds were not healed by now.

Amstrong says with no regrets about his relationship with the country music singer that not their careers were the reason of breaking up, but simply they met in a wrong time of their lives. “Sheryl wanted desperately to get marry and have children. I wanted this too, but I was not ready yet, because I just got out of a marriage and I already had three children”.

Finally, Sheryl’s biological clock was stronger and they broke up. Since then, Cheryl Crow admit that she is still thinking of Lance almost every day.  In 2007 she adopted a baby boy.

But she is not the only singer which was diagnosed  with breast cancer. There are many more. For example, Sonique underwent the second surgery for breast cancer.



“Sonique will be operated again for breast cancer because the doctors discovered that the first surgery was not successful and the tumor has spread” said Sky News.

The British singer underwent the first surgery in a London clinic after just one week from the diagnosis but the results tests after surgery showed that the disease has spread in the body. According to British doctors, the cancer has reached the lymph nodes and possible some organs too.

Sonique was planning to launch a new single this summer and she already set a tour of Europe but her spokesman announced that all this are depending on her health now.

The singer and also the DJ, Sonique became famous in the ‘80s, but she did not come on the first place in the charts until 2000 with the song “Feels So Good”.

Breast cancer is the most common form of a cancer in women and is the second cause of death; that is why we need to make clinical examination annually, self-examination each month, etc, because if it is diagnosed in an early stage, with appropriate treatment, the breast cancer is no longer feared.

How many cases and deaths of breast cancer were estimated to be in 2003?

In 2003, were estimated to be 211300 new cases of invasive breast cancer diagnosis in women and 55700 cases of “in situ” breast cancer. Also, a number of 39700 women were accepted to die from this awful disease. In men, the expectations were about 1300 cases and 400 deaths, which represent only 1% of all breast cancers.

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You can find below more detailed information about estimates of breast cancer diagnosis from 2003, in the United States:



-         Under the age of 30 were estimated 100 cases of in situ breast cancer which represents a percent of 0.2, 1000 cases of invasive cancer (0.5%) and 100  deaths (0,3%).
-         Between the ages of 30 and 39 years were estimated 2100 cases of in situ breast cancer (3,8%), 10500 cases of invasive cancer (5.0%), and 1300 deaths (3.3%).
-         Between the ages of 40 and 49 years were estimated 12600 cases of in situ breast cancer (22.6%), 35500 cases of invasive cancer (16.8%) and 4300 deaths (10.8%)
-         Between the ages of 50 and 59 years were estimated  15700 cases of in situ breast cancer (28.2%), 48700 cases of invasive cancer (23%) and 7000 deaths (17,6%)
-         Between the ages of 60 and 69 years were estimated 11500 cases of in situ breast cancer (20.6%), 43100 cases of invasive breast cancer (20.4%) and 7400 deaths (18.4%)
-         Between the ages of 70 and 79 years were estimated 10100 cases of in situ breast cancer (18.1%), 45600 cases of invasive breast cancer (21.6%) and 9500 deaths (23.9%)
-         In women over 80 years were estimated 3500 cases of in situ breast cancer (6.3%), 27000 cases of invasive breast cancer (12.8%) and 11000 deaths (25.4%)

Total = 55700 cases of insitu breast cancer, 211300 cases of invasive breast cancer and 39700 deaths.

But how has the occurrence of breast cancer changed over time we will find out from the next lines.
Incidence rates of invasive breast cancer in women for all races combined, since 1973 show three distinct phases
–        the incidence was essentially constant between 1973 and 1980
–        between 1980 and 1987 the incidence rates increased by almost 4% per year
–        and also, the incidence rates increased again between 1987 and with 0,4% per year.



Also, the age probabilities of developing breast cancer are:
-         If current age is 20 then the probability of developing breast cancer in the next 10 years is 0,05% or 1 in 2152.
-         If current age is 30 then the probability of developing breast cancer in the next 10 years is 0,40% or 1 in 251.
-         If current age is 40 then the probability of developing breast cancer in the next 10 years is 1,45% or 1 in 69.
-         If current age is 50 then the probability of developing breast cancer in the next 10 years is 2,78% or 1 in 36.
-         If current age is 60 then the probability of developing breast cancer in the next 10 years is 3,81% or 1 in 26.
-         If current age is 70 then the probability of developing breast cancer in the next 10 years is 4,31% or 1 in 23..

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in women, usually located on the second place, after skin cancer. By taking into account the current life expectancy, it was determined that approximately one woman out of eight will develop breast cancer.

The cause and the treatment of the breast cancer have not really been identified yet, but, if the cancer is found in an early stage of evolution, can be treated with good results through conservative breast surgery followed by radiotherapy. This treatment of early diagnosed cancer is ensuring a survival rate for 5 years, to 97% of cases.

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What we must do to detect breast cancer early.

1. Clinical examination of the breasts. Women aged between 20 and 40 should benefit of this exam part of the overall control of the health’s state, preferably once at every three years. Women over 40 years old should be examined by a specialist once a year.


2. Mammography. The mammogram is an X-ray examination of the breasts, with very low doses of X radiation. Women over 40 years should receive an annual mammogram. If you see something suspicious, or you have members in your family who developed breast cancer, consult your doctor about the moment when you should start making this investigation. Although some cancers may not be detected by mammography, it still remains an excellent method of diagnosis.


3. Self-examination of the breast. This method for an early detection of breast cancer is really important. To have the best results from it, make it after 10 days after the menstruation. If you do not have a regular menstrual cycle, use for the examination, the same day of the month. On our site you can also find articles about self-examination techniques along with other useful information related to this subject.

What are the involved factors in the genesis of breast cancer?

Risk factors:

-         gender
-         age
-         genetic risk
-         family history
-         personal history of breast cancer
-         race
-         radiological examinations at an early age
-         biopsy
-         the  hormone replacement therapy
-         alcohol
-        obesity



Positive factors:

-         breastfeeding
-         physical exercise
-         a balanced diet

Signs and symptoms that may suggest the breast cancer existence

1. Tumor mass (swelling) in the armpit, breast or nearby. If it is painless, hard, with irregular edges, adhering to the surrounding tissue, there is a big probability to be cancerous.


2. A “coagulate” area of the breast. Through palpation, you will feel it denser than the surrounding tissues.


3. Any other secretion different than milk


4. Changes of the breast. (size and shape)


5. Skin changes (such as a pit or a folded skin)


6. Nipple pain


7. Nipple covered with scabs

If any of these signs will appear, consult a specialist immediately!! Not every change you feel in your breasts means cancer; 80% of the lumps are benign but it is better for you to let the doctor decide what investigations you need.

Things to remember:

1. Breast cancer can occur at any age but the risk is increased as we get older.


2. The risk to develop breast cancer at 70 years old is twice than it is at 50 years.


3. Early diagnosis means better chances of survival.


4. Make periodic examinations. (mammography, self-examination and clinical examination by a specialist)


5. Keep a healthy diet and make physical exercises.


6. More than 70% of the breast cancers had family history.